The City of Milwaukee is asking employers to submit job orders for summer employees through the Earn & Learn program.
Earn & Learn aims to create a strong future workforce by providing Milwaukee teens with employment opportunities, so they can gain the skills they will need for a successful career.
Students as young as 14 are placed in summer jobs at nonprofits and community-based organizations, older students are placed in city internships, and seniors in high school participate in the private sector job connection program, said Bill Malone, youth development coordinator for the DCD.
Private employers are asked to fill out a job order form for the job connection program so the city can screen potential applicants. Then, an employer can interview the students and choose whether or not to hire them, Malone said.
This year, Earn & Learn is asking young people who wish to be considered for private sector jobs to participate in a pre-employment orientation and workshop to develop their soft skills in hopes of improving their likelihood of being hired.
“The hard part is getting companies to agree to hire a kid, and once a company has agreed to do that, then typically they’re very interested in making it work,” he said. “What we try to do each year is identify new companies that are interested in participating in the program.”
Last year, about 80 companies participated in Earn & Learn and hired about 200 students. This year, Malone hopes to double that number.
Employers can submit a job order here through the beginning of June.
