Georgia Department of Labor has an interesting program in their state to help get unemployed workers back to work.  It’s called “Georgia Work$.”  The basic premise is that participating employers provide workforce on the job training to UI Claimants that qualify for up to 6 weeks.  The state pays the UI Claimant directly in the form of continued unemployment insurance payments while the employers pay nothing.

Critics of the program complain that the try before you buy process is limited in its scope, encourages employers to abuse the workforce by getting free labor and just plain doesn’t work.

My question is, what’s wrong with being able to evaluate a potential hire during training before you commit to a long-term working relationship with that person?  The program only lasts for 6 weeks which gives the employer ample time to evaluate their hiring decision, but certainly not enough time to encourage abuse.   It doesn’t even make good business sense to abuse this type of program.  Well, unless of course you work at Paddy’s Pub in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”  They tried to abuse a similar Welfare Program in “Dennis and Dee Go on Welfare.”  Funny episode, but not something that happens in real life.

The Georgia Department of labor has posted the following statistics about success rates since the program’s inception in 2003; 60% of those completing the program are hired, more than 3,000 UI Claimants have found full time employment and 6,000 different Georgia employer have participated.  Georgia thinks those are great numbers and has recently talked expansion of the program .  Also, Georgia is counted among the states that have yet to take a Title XII Loan from the Federal Government, although they are on the TALX watch list.

So, you tell me does Georgia Work$ work?  In my mind it is hard to criticize a program that helps people find jobs.

Tammy Mullin