State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said in Columbus today that Georgia’s stagnant job market and requests from unemployed Georgians who lost jobs because of the recession encouraged him to expand the highly successful job creation initiative known as Georgia Work$ (GW$) .

“Many employers are reluctant to hire because of the costs and risks associated with bringing on new employees,” said Thurmond. “To help alleviate their concerns, we have expanded our Georgia Work$ training initiative. I’m pleased to tell you that now all jobless Georgians are eligible to receive six weeks of on-the-job training from Georgia employers.” Previously, the training was available only to recipients of unemployment insurance benefits.

Georgia Works (GW$) is a GDOL initiative designed to stimulate job creation and hiring. GW$ allows unemployed job seekers who register with the GDOL to receive training from employers and up to $600 in stipends to off-set expenses such as child care and transportation. Since its inception in 2003, more than 63 percent of GW$ participants have obtained work.

Thurmond’s comments came during a visit to Prosperity America, Inc. in Midland. “This company is a prime example of how well Georgia Work$ can work for an employer. It’s doing exactly what it’s intended to do,” he said.

“Approximately one-third of our work force was trained and hired through Georgia Work$,” said Fred Landrum, President and CEO of Prosperity America. “It gives us the opportunity to train prospective employees properly. At the end of the training period, we’re able to determine whether the trainees will be a good fit with our company, the trainees will know whether this is a career they will enjoy, and if hired, they can hit the ground running from day one. It’s a win-win for all.”

Prosperity America’s Executive Vice-President and COO Mark Fischman added, “Georgia Work$ also saves us about $3,500 in training and hiring expenses per employee, so we can better compete with foreign competition. One of our goals is to help rebuild the call center industry in the United States – to bring back the millions of jobs that have been lost to other countries where labor is cheap. Georgia Work$ is helping us in that direction.” According to Fischman, there are some five million call center jobs in India alone.

Additional information about GW$ is available at www.dol.state.ga.us, any GDOL career center, or by calling 1-877-WORKS09.