Jacksonville, Fla. (May 25, 2021) Starting Tuesday, June 1, unemployed Floridians will once again have to conduct a job search among potential employers each week to remain eligible for Reemployment Assistance (RA) benefits – and CareerSource Northeast Florida (CareerSource NEFL) is ready to help them prepare and identify job opportunities in the region.
CareerSource NEFL supports the Department of Economic Opportunity’s (DEO) Return to Work initiative, which is focused on encouraging Floridians to return to the workforce and helping employers attract job seekers – both efforts that help to fuel the state’s economic growth.
“Although CareerSource NEFL doesn’t run the RA Program, we play a critical role in helping claimants search for work, which in turn fulfills their requirements to obtain their benefits,” said CareerSource NEFL President Bruce Ferguson. “Either virtually, or at one of our seven career centers, we can help those who have been unemployed sharpen their resume and connect with job opportunities throughout Northeast Florida.”
Formerly known as unemployment compensation, RA provides temporary wage replacement benefits to qualified individuals who are out of work. People who receive RA benefits from the state are ordinarily required to meet job search requirements each week to claim their benefits, but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis lifted work registration and job search requirements during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“With the work search waiver ending on May 29 and RA benefits expiring in September, those currently receiving RA benefits should begin to look for jobs now,” Ferguson said. “In addition, for the week beginning June 27, 2021, eligible RA claimants will no longer receive the supplemental $300 weekly Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payment. “
CareerSource NEFL is seeing an increase in open positions from local business partners. Over the last few months, businesses have approached CareerSource NEFL to help fill existing open positions that are averaging about 3,000 per month – at higher levels than before the pandemic. Those open positions are in a variety of industries ranging from manufacturing, healthcare, transportation/logistics, finance and information technology. CareerSource NEFL is also starting to see an increase in hospitality and retail jobs, the industry most impacted by the pandemic.
“As the region’s workforce development organization, we provide services to job seekers at no charge,” Ferguson said. “Our goal is two-fold: to help people who are out of work find good, gainful employment and help employers in Northeast Florida fill their open positions.”
CareerSource NEFL encourages job seekers to:
- Schedule an appointment at their nearest career center (or a virtual appointment) through the CareerSource NEFL website at www.careersourcenefl.com – or by phone at (904) 356-JOBS (5627);
- Register in www.employflorida.com ;
- Visit the CareerSource NEFL event page at https://careersourcenortheastflorida.com/events/ to sign up for upcoming career fairs and other events; and
- Sign up for the NEFL Hot Jobs list that highlights open positions in the region on a daily basis.
CareerSource NEFL is scheduling a major virtual ‘Return to Work’ Job Fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 24 to connect all job seekers with open positions at a variety of companies. To register, visit https://portal.premiervirtual.com/event/register-jobseeker/8211-return-work-virtual-hiring-fair.
Also in June, CareerSource NEFL will be hosting in-person recruiting events at its Gateway Career Center, located at 5000 Norwood Ave., Ste. 2 in Jacksonville for Extended Stay America on Wednesday, June 2 and for Gate Petroleum Company on Thursday, June 3.
For more information about these and other job fairs and workshops hosted by CareerSource NEFL, visit the events page at https://careersourcenortheastflorida.com/events/.
Each career center provides services to job seekers, including job leads, access to labor market and salary information, and computer resources for updating resumes and conducting internet research. CareerSource NEFL career centers are located in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties. Specific locations are on the website at www.careersourcenefl.com.
For more information on CareerSource NEFL’s services, including services for job seekers and businesses, visit www.careersourcenefl.com.
-###-
Media Contact: Ron Whittington, 904.563.0402 (cell) rwhittington@careersourcenefl.com