OLYMPIA – The reemployment team at WorkSource Everett regularly celebrates helping people find jobs—and this week, the team and their peers are celebrating national recognition for that work.

Working out of the highest volume WorkSource office in the state, the WorkSource Everett reemployment team helped more than 15,000 people return to work in the last year by increasing weekend and evening job seeker workshops, targeting unemployment claimants earlier and making personal phone calls to encourage job seekers to return to WorkSource to look for jobs.

Those efforts were recognized this week at the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) annual meeting in Indianapolis where the WorkSource Everett Reemployment Team received the James F. Walls Team Award, honoring a local team that demonstrates extraordinary service in its assignment area, functions, local community or area.

“WorkSource Everett deserves to be recognized for its strong partnerships and innovative approaches to connecting employers with a skilled workforce,” said Dale Peinecke, Commissioner of the Washington Employment Security Department (ESD). “The WorkSource Everett team works tirelessly to help job seekers prepare for job interviews, freshen their resumes and connect with local employers.”

Partnering to help people find jobs

When customers requested evening and weekend job seeker workshops, the WorkSource Everett reemployment team connected with Sno-Isle Library system to answer the call. Now WorkSource staff conduct more than 50 job seeker workshops in 12 library locations across Snohomish County, with several weekend and evening offerings to meet customer needs.

Next the team partnered with Refugee and Immigrant Services, who provided an area-wide training on how to effectively work with refugees both from a cultural as well as language standpoint and Housing Hope, who provided soft skills training at WorkSource Everett.  

“WorkSource Everett is often sought after to develop and/or initiate pilot projects, earning a solid reputation for successful, unique, and creative approaches designed to meet customer needs in a team-based environment,” Peinecke said. “These efforts have the potential to save millions of taxpayer dollars through reduced UI and L&I time loss payments.”

WorkSource Everett’s Reemployment Services team developed the Reemployment Assistance (REA) pilot project. First adopted as a model, this pilot project is now used statewide, and the U.S. Department of Labor is currently studying its potential use on a national level.

The Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) partnered with WorkSource Everett to develop a pilot to help get L&I customers back to work. In its second year, the pilot has produced a phenomenal 85 percent “return-to-work” rate.

The team’s most recent project, the “mid-claims call” project proactively engages customers who are in their 13th week of receiving unemployment insurance payments. Team members call customers to discuss and assess the success of their job searches. They then provide customized job search coaching. Early results have shown customers who receive a mid-claim call service are returning to work at rate 8 percent higher than those who have not received this service. 

"This award means a lot for our area. Obviously you need an outstanding team to win the team award and ours starts at the top,” said WorkSource Everett Administrator Matt Bench, who accepted the award on behalf of his team at the NASWA Annual Conference in Indianapolis this week.

WorkSource Everett Reemployment Team

The WorkSource Everett Reemployment Team includes:

• ESD WorkSource specialists;
• A Housing Hope employment and housing specialist;
• A Refugee and Immigrant Services employment and limited English speaking specialist;
• An AARP Mature Worker employment specialist;
• A ResCare Offender Services employment specialist;
• An Employment Security Labor & Industries Pilot Return-to-Work specialist;
• A Division of Vocational Rehabilitation counselor;
• A Workforce Snohomish disabilities navigator and homeless veterans navigator; and
• An AmeriCorps Resource Room Assistant

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