The Blog

Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee

05/13/08

The April unemployment rate in Washington is 4.7 percent, the 19th month in row under 5 percent. But even with our low unemployment rate, there are always people looking for work.

Did you know that state government runs an employment service that is available to all employers and job seekers for free? Our WorkSource system provided employment services to more than 300,000 job seekers and employers last year and helped nearly 200,000 people find jobs.

WorkSource is a partnership of the Employment Security Department, local workforce development councils and other service providers.

Services for job seekers

• Skill assessments, career counseling and job-matching assistance.

• Free classes on interview skills, writing a résumé, etc.

• Assistance with re-training, apprenticeships, on-the-job training, vocational rehabilitation and other development opportunities.

• Special programs for veterans, offenders, at-risk youths, low-income adults, older workers, people with disabilities, welfare recipients, dislocated workers and dislocated homemakers, etc.

• Access to computers, telephones and fax machines.

• Information about local employment trends and wages.

Services for businesses

• Job posting and applicant screening.

• Job fairs.

• Employee-development programs (e.g., we may partly cover wages while you train a new employee).

• Tax credits for hiring certain types of workers.

• Programs to avoid or minimize layoffs.

• Free bonding of employees who can’t obtain regular coverage.

• Information about employer regulations, labor-market data, etc.

• Specialized training for your workers.

• Much, much more.

The WorkSource website has lots of information for employers and job-seekers, plus about 25,000 job postings and a directory of WorkSource offices so you can find one near you.