Argentum is partnering with a training company to launch a pilot program offering senior living career opportunities to Job Corps students.
The partnership with Management & Training Corp. is designed to help the association meet its strategic plan goal of building a reliable pool of senior living workers while fulfilling MTC’s missions to provide students with updated training, real world-based learning experiences and gainful employment.
The job opportunities will focus on students at three MTC-managed centers: the Sierra Nevada Job Corps Center in Reno, NV; the Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center in Morganfield, KY; and the Woodstock Job Corps Center in Woodstock, MD.
The effort, according to Argentum, is part of a border strategy to find and retain workers in senior living, particularly those working in occupations including caregiving and nursing, hospitality and resident service, dining and culinary, building maintenance and housekeeping, sales and marketing, office support and management.
“The shortage of qualified workers for open positions is a national problem and cuts across many professions,” Ashante Abubakar, Argentum vice president of workforce development, said in a statement. “These are real career-long pathways for young people in caring for residents in assisted living, memory care and other senior living settings.”
Abubakar called it a “unique collaboration” that could be a blueprint for matching interested Job Corps students to jobs serving senior living communities. The structure could result in pre-apprenticeship and post-apprenticeship processes for students, including entry-level positions up to executive opportunities.
Argentum’s apprenticeship model will include support for recruiting, interviewing and hiring by Argentum employers/members. MTC will integrate Job Corps Center-provided training with professional development training, including Argentum’s frontline worker training.
MTC also will review training achievement records to ensure that they are current, and formalize apprenticeship opportunities. Argentum will provide industry subject matter expertise and engagement of member communities.
“We see this partnership with MTC as one avenue of many that Argentum will lead to bring our communities more job candidates and keep those who make the grade at work in senior living for years to come,” Abubakar said.
Along with the MTC partnership, Argentum is working with community colleges and universities to “blend” resources that provide opportunities for people seeking careers in senior living.
In a new strategic plan unveiled last week, the association listed the development of 2 million career opportunities in senior living among its major goals. Under its plan, Argentum plans to expand and promote career pathways and pipelines through partnerships that create apprenticeships and incumbent worker training programs.
