Dive Brief:
- In the aftermath of the Dow Chemical Co. and Dow Corning Corp. merger, the company opened a job portal for its some 700 displaced workers in collaboration with the Michigan Economic Development Corp., according to the Midland Daily News. Around 30% of the jobs available are within a 50-mile radius of the Midland, Michigan area.
- On Jun. 28, Dow announced a massive reduction of its workforce. All of the notified employees will have left Dow by the mid-2018.
- So far, Dow has hosted three job fairs and plans to have more. The job portal includes nearly 1,000 jobs offered by 200 companies including MidMichigan Health and Nexteer. Many of the jobs are in professional and technical roles.
Dive Insight:
Whenever a large company, like Dow, announces a layoff of this scale, it has a responsibility to its employees to assist them with finding new career opportunities. Partnering with an agency that specializes in helping displaced workers reintegrate into local businesses is a positive move, especially in a state like Michigan where the last recession all but devastated the local job market.
Organizations can learn a lot from this example, including the importance of establishing networks with other companies that are willing to take on the costs of hiring and training an influx of workers like this. A displaced workforce on the scale that Dow is experiencing offers an excellent opportunity for other companies to recruit skilled STEM talent that is scarce in today's market.