Argentum and the American Seniors Housing Association have announced a new resource to help workers who have been displaced due to the fallout from COVID-19 find new employment opportunities in senior living. 

Senior Living FastMatch, part of Argentun’s Senior Living Works website, uses artificial intelligence to try to identify the top jobs for users in their geographic regions.

Senior living providers also are invited to post their available opportunities through FastMatch at no cost through Sept. 30.

“Hospitality, restaurant and retail workers are particularly impacted by the current crisis, and Argentum has been working with the American Hotel & Lodging Association to help connect these workers with senior living,” Argentum President and CEO James Balda said. “They bring skills and experience that are a strong fit for many senior living positions, such as concierges, dining professionals, and housekeepers.”

The recruitment tool is powered by Arena, a software company that applies big data and predictive analytics to help companies make more successful hiring decisions.   

In addition, human capital management software company OnShift created an expanded resource toolkit to help senior living organizations recruit and hire employees during this emergency. The toolkit includes social media messages, tailored job descriptions and other materials to help recruit workers who have been laid off discover senior living.

“The senior living profession offers a variety of fulfilling career paths and combines many elements of service and hospitality,” ASHA President David Schless said. “In this most challenging time for so many, it is extremely gratifying to help match displaced workers with high quality jobs and opportunities for advancement and career-development.”

In other coronavirus-related news:

  • American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living President and CEO Mark Parkinson appeared on Fox News on Monday making a pitch for the public to support assisted living communities and nursing homes in their efforts to obtain personal protective equipment. “What we’re really asking the country to do is what’s been done for hospitals, which is to rally around nursing homes, rally around assisted living facilities, and get us all the masks that are out there, get us the testing that we need,” he said. “We feel like if we have that, we can fight this, but without it, it’s really a losing battle.” Parkinson called for action from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and, in particular, state governors and public health officials who already have the equipment and access to testing. Also, he said, assisted living communities and nursing homes should be a level 1 priority for testing for suspected COVID-19 as defined by the CDC. Currently, long-term care facilities are a level 2 priority. 
  • The mayor of Carmel, IN, is calling for all senior living and nursing home workers to be tested for COVID-19 weekly, CBS4Indy reported. “If we are able to discover staff members at elder care facilities that are carrying the virus, then we can quarantine them then we can test the residents in those facilities,” Mayor Jim Brainard said.
  • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Tuesday that Congress needs to provide more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program or it may “run dry.” McConnell said he will work with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to try to get more funding approved during the next scheduled Senate session on Thursday.
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health and Human Services Department announced Monday, plans to provide $186 million in funding for additional resources to support state and local government efforts related to the coronavirus. “[T]his new funding will expand our ability to track and prevent the virus’s spread across the country,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said.