In an effort to help unemployed baby-boomers who lost their jobs as a result of Michigan’s down economy, a University professor has created a new program, which provides resources geared toward baby-boomers to help them get their employment search back on track.
Launched two weeks ago, the LEARN program is a series of free online courses designed to teach workers and baby-boomers how to reinvent their careers. Currently the program — a joint collaboration between the Ross School of Business, the Maria Madeline Project Inc., five Michigan libraries and WJBK/FOX 2 News — offers eight health care courses.
Lynn Wooten, a professor in the Business School, said she was interested in becoming a co-creator of the LEARN program because of the need recently for career resources for unemployed workers in the state.
“I really envisioned it as a service to our state to think about how do we help workers transition into this new economy,” she said.
Tony Fama, co-creator of the program and president of the Maria Madeline Project — an organization that provides resources for baby-boomers — said LEARN participants can watch online instructor-led courses, download workbooks and take an independent study class without the constraints of a traditional classroom setting.
All of the courses are housed on the Maria Madeline Project’s website, 50plusprime.com, which is geared toward baby-boomers, Fama said.
Fama said the courses offered by the program help baby-boomers who have lost their jobs learn the new skills necessary to compete in the current job market.
“People are going to need to re-brand themselves,” he said.
The goal of the courses is to help participants understand their strengths and find the right career, Fama said.
“We’re the bridge between the former career and the new career,” he said.
Once the participants choose a career, LEARN will help them find the right school for their occupation and teach them how to fund that education, Fama said.
Wooten said she chooses the courses for the program based on research about the sectors in which opportunities for employment are growing.
According to the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, from October 2007 to October 2009, jobs in the private health care and social assistance sectors grew 2.4 percent. Durable goods manufacturing jobs declined 26.4 percent in that same time period.
Because health care has surpassed manufacturing as the leading industry in Michigan, the program wanted to offer those courses first, in order to give its participants the “greatest benefit,” Fama said.
Courses to come later this year include classes on emerging technologies and governmental non-profit jobs, as well as some intermediate computer skills training. Wooten said she is excited to offer the computer-based courses because they can help unemployed workers create a résumé.
Thus far, there has been a large amount of interest in the program due to its advertisements on the Fox 2 news channel, according to Fama.
“In one week we’ve seen a huge jump in our website traffic,” he said. “It really is unbelievable.”