(ALEXANDRIA, Va.) – Argentum, the voice for America’s professionally managed senior living communities, and Management & Training Corporation (MTC) have established a business affiliation that will include a pilot program offering senior living career opportunities to select Job Corps students at three MTC-managed centers in Reno, Nev., Morganfield, Ky., and Woodstock, Md.
The effort is part of a broader Argentum strategy to act on what has been a years-old problem of finding and retaining workers in senior living, notably those working in occupations like caregiving and nursing, hospitality and resident service, dining and culinary, building maintenance and housekeeping, sales, marketing, office support, and management. Argentum is engaging with various workforce channels, to include community colleges and universities in an effort to “blend” resources that provide opportunities for workers seeking careers in senior living.
“The shortage of qualified workers for open positions is a national problem and cuts across many professions. We see this partnership with MTC as one avenue of many that Argentum will lead to bring our communities more job candidates and keep those who make the grade at work in senior living for years to come,” Ashante Abubakar, vice president, workforce development, Argentum.
The partnership is designed to meet Argentum-member organizations’ need for a reliable pool of skilled and trained employees while fulfilling MTC’s mission to provide Job Corps students with up-to-date training on industry standards, real-world work-based learning experiences, and gainful employment on completion of their training and skill development.
The three MTC-run centers involved in the pilot are the Sierra Nevada Job Corps Center, Reno, Nev., the Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center in Morganfield, Ky., and the Woodstock Job Corps Center, Woodstock, Md.
“This is a unique collaboration that we see as a blueprint for matching interested Job Corps students to jobs serving senior living communities. There are real career-long pathways for young people in caring for residents in assisted living, memory care, and other senior living settings,” said Abubakar.
Argentum currently administers a national Dept. of Labor apprenticeship program that will serve as the framework for including Job Corps students as recipients of the national apprenticeship program.
This structure could result in “pre-apprenticeship” and “post-apprenticeship” processes for students, including entry-level positions up to executive opportunities, Abubakar said.
Argentum’s apprenticeship model will include support for recruitment, interviewing, and hiring by Argentum employers/members who seek trained, qualified staff for their companies. MTC will then work to integrate Job Corps Center-provided training (Training Achievement Records or TARs) with professional development training to include Argentum’s front-line worker training.
MTC will also sustain an ongoing and active relationship to review relevant TARs to ensure they are current and to formalize apprenticeship opportunities. Argentum will provide industry subject matter expertise and engagement of their member facilities when possible.
About Argentum:
Argentum is the leading national association exclusively dedicated to supporting companies operating professionally managed, resident-centered senior living communities and the older adults and families they serve. Since 1990, Argentum has advocated for choice, independence, dignity, and quality of life for all older adults.
Argentum member companies operate senior living communities offering assisted living, independent living, continuing care, and memory care services. Along with its state partners, Argentum’s membership represents approximately 75 percent of the senior living industry—an industry with a national economic impact of nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars and responsible for providing over 1.6 million jobs. These numbers will continue to grow as the U.S. population ages. Argentum’s programs and initiatives are driven by its membership. For more information about joining Argentum, please visit argentum.org/membership. Learn more at argentum.org.
Media Contact:
Patrick Connole, Content Director & Editor
ARGENTUM | Expanding Senior Living
703-599-7412 | [email protected]
