Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito
HYANNIS – Governor Charlie Baker recently announced the launch of a new hiring and employee training grant program to help businesses hire and train new workers and reinvigorate the state’s workforce.
Utilizing funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, the “HireNow” program will provide eligible employers with a $4,000 per employee grant to cover training costs or signing bonuses for new hires, with a maximum limit of $400,000 per employer.
State officials hope the program will help boost the state’s job market, which continues to see hiring challenges as the state recovers from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that over 85,000 workers are not participating in the labor market compared to pre pandemic levels, with unfilled job postings currently up 20% since that time.
“Our Administration is focused on supporting Massachusetts’ economic growth and getting more people back to work, and the HireNow program is one more tool at our disposal to meet employers’ workforce needs and grow our labor force,” said Baker.
“The flexible funds from this program will be distributed to employers quickly to help them with training costs, tuition support and other needs,” he said. “We are grateful to our partners in the Legislature for allocating the ARPA funds necessary to make this program happen.”
Conditions for eligibility include minimum wage requirements of $14.25 per hour and good standing with the Department of Unemployment Assistance.
New hires must be retained for a minimum of sixty days and be placed within jobs offering at least 30 hours per week.
“We are excited to add Hirenow to our growing number of grant programs that aim to close job and equity gaps across the Commonwealth,” said Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta.
“We hope these funds will encourage employers to expand their hiring strategy to include those with potential for learning and growing on the job, over a direct-skills match, as this will widen the candidate pool and help both job seekers and businesses.”
Funds will be awarded to businesses on a first-come, first-served basis.
Employers can pre-register online by clicking here.
By, Matthew Tomlinson, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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