With March Break, and recent school closures, our colleagues at Workforce WindsorEssex have assembled a list of resources for learning from home. The hope is to aid parents and educators during this challenging time by ensuring that students can continue learning, from the comfort of home, with these helpful resources.

It turns out Drake’s lyric “Started from the bottom now we’re here” could be the best advice for young people and youth entering the workforce. In December 2019, the unemployment rate for the 15-24 year-old age group was 9.7% in Kitchener Waterloo Cambridge which is more than double the unemployment rate for 25 years and older (4.2%). A local partnership is focused on promoting varying career paths and entry level positions to youth and those entering the workforce in order to tap into this available talent pool. The key goal of the “How the Labour Market Works” initiative is to help youth, and those who support them, to better understand that the types of jobs and salaries available in their first position will be invaluable for their initial career.

The Workforce Planning Board of Waterloo Wellington Dufferin has released its first ever “Worker Survey”. One hundred and seventy-seven job seekers and employees filled out this survey that asked about their needs when looking for employment, reasons why they quit, what keeps them in a job and more. The new Worker Survey was introduced as a complement to the annual EmployerOne Survey which the Workforce Planning Board conducts every January around workforce and retention and recruitment practices.