Rapids Response

Rapids Response

Rapid Response is a pro-active, business-focused, and flexible strategy designed for two major purposes:

  1. Help growing companies access the resources they need to continue to be successful, including helping meet existing and future talent needs.
  2. Respond to announcements of layoffs and plant closings by quickly coordinating services and providing immediate aid to companies and their affected workers to ensure rapid reemployment and to minimize the negative impacts of the layoff.
Rapid Response teams will work with your company and any employee representative(s) (where applicable) to quickly maximize public and private resources to minimize the disruptions that are associated with job losses on your business, your workers, and the communities in which you do business and live. Rapid Response can provide customized services on-site at your company, accommodate any work schedules, and assist company leadership and affected workers through the painful transitions associated with job loss.

If you are looking to access skilled workers, are expecting a layoff or plant closing, or even wish to learn more about the solutions Rapid Response can provide to your business, contact the Workforce Developments business and rapid response team.

Benefits To Your Company
Working with our Rapid Response team during layoffs or plant closings will result in multiple benefits to you as a business. The more quickly the Rapid Response strategy is implemented, the better off your company and workers will be. Providing Rapid Response to your workers will help assure:

  • Higher productivity and worker morale and lower absenteeism during layoff event due to reduced stress.
  • Lower unemployment insurance costs as workers are re-employed more quickly when services are begun prior to layoff
  • Decreased likelihood of sabotage or work disruptions
  • Media and rumor management. Rapid Response teams understand the often confidential nature of layoffs, and will work with the company to ensure confidentiality at all times
  • Enhanced public relations for an employer. Rapid Response teams can also work with the media to highlight services an employer is providing to its workers during a layoff period, which will improve a company’s public image
Rapid Response teams can also provide information to companies with regard to any state or federal requirements or laws for notification, including the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
Developing relationships with your Rapid Response team can also benefit you during hiring phases as the team will have access to skilled workers looking for employment in your area.

Benefits To Your Workers
The decision to lay off employees is one no employer wants to make. However, as layoffs do occur, inviting Rapid Response teams to meet with affected workers prior to the layoff will allow your employees to access services and programs that will help them through this difficult time. Rapid Response teams can provide your employees with a range of information and services, including:
  • Career counseling and job search assistance
  • Resume preparation and interviewing skills workshops
  • Information on the local labor market
  • Unemployment insurance
  • Information about education and training opportunities
  • Information on health benefits and pensions
  • And much more!
Local services available may include use of computers, telephones, and fax machines for job searches; financial planning and stress management workshops; financial support for training; income support if jobs were lost due to foreign trade; and special services for veterans and adults with disabilities.

Additionally, Rapid Response on-site meetings will introduce your workers to representatives of many other programs that can help them through this transition. The American Job Center system was designed to bring together many separate partners to seamlessly provide an array of services, from resume preparation to job search to placement to supportive services, to anyone who wishes to have access to these services. Our American Job Center also has services tailored to meet the workforce needs of local employers, so contact us to learn more.