By: centraljersey.com
Burlington County businesses are being urged to respond to an on-line Employer Needs and Practices Survey posted by the county’s Workforce Investment Board (WIB).
The survey, prepared by the WIB’s Business Solutions Committee, is aimed at learning businesses’ recent hiring experiences, and identifying training and placement services that will assist them in finding qualified employees.
Businesses can call up the survey at www.burlcowib.com. Some 2,100 businesses received a postcard notification of the survey a month ago; thus far, about 100 have responded.
"The survey is part and parcel to county efforts to help businesses find the workers they need, and to make sure we are providing worker training that answers those needs," said Freeholder Joseph B. Donnelly.
"We’ve seen some improvement in the county’s employment picture in recent months," he added. "Obviously, we want to do everything we can to grow business and create more job opportunities."
Mr. Donnelly noted that the county’s unemployment rate had improved to 8.1 percent at the end of 2010 – as opposed to a year earlier, when it came in at 9 percent.
"Reducing county taxes and spending obviously helps everyone, especially the business community, and we’re working on accomplishing that for the fourth year in a row," he said.
Mr. Donnelly said that the WIB, through its One Stop Career Center located in the Human Services Facility in Westampton, can provide customized training and assist businesses with programs that can reduce hiring and payroll costs.
The 32-question survey, which takes three minutes to complete, asks businesspeople questions about recent hiring and training experiences, and also asks if they are familiar with specific programs that may assist them.
Companies/individuals responding to the survey are not required to identify themselves, although they are encouraged to do so.
"We all know that the much-publicized economic recovery will move slowly insofar as the employment picture is concerned," said Donnelly. "We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to make to make it work for employers and employees alike."
One of the primary missions of the WIB is to ensure that outside grant dollars allocated for training are answering to the current workforce demands.

