Employer Services
Looking to hire for your business?
NOTE: To access the AlabamaWorks System website as an employer, please log in with your registered user name and password. If you are not a registered employer, choose “Register New User” at the top of the page. From there you can register or enter the site as a temporary guest user.
Looking for resources to help train your workforce?
AIDT is an agency under the supervision of the Alabama Department of Commerce that assists employers throughout the state by identifying qualified applicant pools and providing recruitment, screening, and training services. AIDT has training locations throughout the state and their training services are offered, at no cost, to new and expanding businesses. Applicants who successfully complete AIDT job-specific training programs are recommended for employment with the company for whom services are provided.
Alabama’s Ready to Work program, operated by the Alabama Community College System in cooperation with AIDT, provides a career pathway for individuals with limited education and employment experience. Ready to Work’s workplace environment provides trainees the entry-level skills required for employment with most businesses and industries in Alabama. Training is provided at no cost to participants. The Ready to Work curriculum is set to standards cited by business and industry employers throughout the state, and the skills cited in the U. S. Department of Labor’s Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) Reports. Upon successful completion of the program and earning 70 percent or higher on comprehensive assessments, graduates will receive the Alabama Certified Worker (ACW) Certificate, issued by AIDT, and the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC), issued by ACT.
Apprenticeships afford participants a chance to earn money while they learn in a non-traditional classroom setting. The earn-and-learn model provides apprentices an opportunity to see a direct relation between their increasing skills and increasing wages. Apprenticeship programs are one of the most effective ways to reach our labor force participation and attainment goals and to ensure that Alabamians are on career pathways leading to economic mobility and self- sufficiency.
The Alabama Technology Network is part of the Alabama Community College System and has extensive training and service offerings for business and industry, helping to improve the competitiveness of Alabama’s existing industries by providing specialized training to Alabama manufacturers. Programs include Lean Manufacturing, Quality Systems and Engineering, Information Technology, Human Resources and Organizational Development, Environmental Safety and Health (ES&H), Business Services/Strategic Management, Industrial Maintenance, and Engineering and Technical Services.
Looking for additional resources?
SWAPTE is a regional partnership of business, education, labor and community leaders serving Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, Washington, and Wilcox counties. The workforce investment programs provide the framework for a unique training and employment system designed to meet the needs of businesses requiring qualified workers and jobseekers desiring to further their careers.
There are two On-the-Job Training Programs: New Hire and Performance-Based Training. Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, the OJT Program gives individuals an opportunity to learn job skills and allow employers to train new employees while saving money and training costs.
Industry is the drive of our workforce.
SAWDC AlabamaWorks prides itself on being industry-driven and focused on employer needs. To stay in-the-know, we invite all Southwest Alabama businesses to our cluster meetings. We currently support five clusters representing Southwest Alabama’s top sectors: aviation, construction, healthcare, hospitality & tourism, and manufacturing. These meetings provide the perfect opportunity for collaboration between industry professionals and other players in the education-business workforce pipeline.
Why are Industry Clusters important?
A cluster-based approach allows for industries and assets that are already present in a region and regional stakeholders to pursue initiatives to make those industries better, promote job creation, and support economic growth.
Who needs to be in a Cluster:
- Owner/CEO
- Plant Managers/HR Directors
- Industry Associations
- Economic Development and Chambers of Commerce
- Career Center Business Service Representatives
- Community Colleges (Administrators/Department Representatives/Instructors)
- K-12 Representatives (especially Career Tech Directors/Councilors/Career Coaches/Educators)
- Youth Organizations
- Adult Education
- Vocational Rehabilitation Service Providers
- Training Providers
- Civic Leaders
How the Cluster Model will help your business:
To meet the growing need for businesses to hire and train skilled workers, we partner with regional business and industry leaders to develop Industry Clusters. These clusters put the most influential people in their respective fields together in the same room to discuss ways to provide information on how to properly train and equip potential employees with skills that are prerequisites for being successful within each industry. Our Industry Clusters are an invaluable resource to our region that ensures we provide opportunities to our citizens specific to our communities’ jobs and careers.
The success of our workforce model is based on cluster engagement and direction. Though our model is industry-driven, we still have a tremendous engagement with our education partners and service providers, who also engage at all levels.
We have several clusters that meet regularly to focus on employment and training needs in our region. As needs are identified, each cluster may form a task force to work on a particular project or initiative. If you want to get involved on the front lines of workforce development, join an industry sector cluster. To get involved, see below.
