PAYE-TRIEC collaboration provides employers with access to two pools of talent

Over the past several years, TRIEC has experimented with new ways to connect skilled immigrants to employment through increased coordination among the multitude of employment service providers, bridge-training programs and professional networks that serve them. However, employers recruit for a wider range of employment opportunities. Entry-level positions, for example, tend not to befit the extensive education and work experience of a highly skilled newcomer professional.

Recently, TRIEC began working with a similar multi-stakeholder collaboration helping employers connect to youth and entry-level talent. Driven largely by private sector employers and coordinated by the City of Toronto, the Partnership to Advance Youth Employment (or PAYE) connects people under 30 years of age, served by a similar network of the City’s own employment centres and community employment agencies, to entry-level positions in various industries, including corporate services, hospitality, manufacturing, retail, financial services, construction and technology.

PAYE has developed a model that enables employers and candidates to learn, interact and prepare well in advance of any formal interview process, thereby maximizing potential employment outcomes. This fall, TRIEC and PAYE worked together to combine their respective networks to increase employment opportunities to talented individuals, as well as provide new value to employers by coordinating access to these two pools of talent. Two learning forum events brought together hundreds of job-seekers with opportunities to network directly with employers. Shortlisted candidates participated in two recruitment fairs, providing employers with an efficient and coordinated way to interview leading individuals for their employment openings.

It was natural for both TRIEC and PAYE to begin exploring the prospect of working together. Both have begun sharing employment opportunities across its networks on an ongoing basis and are seeking new ways to collaborate for future initiatives.

By engaging a network for hiring (whether skilled immigrants for professional opportunities or youth for entry-level positions), an employer can cast a wider talent net versus working with a single agency. As a result, the employer has potential access to a larger pool of pre-screened candidates, saving time on recruitment outreach and increasing the chances of selecting from among the very best candidates.

To post employment opportunities to either network, please contact Rodel Imbarlina-Ramos at TRIEC at (905) 896-4994. To learn more about PAYE, please visit www.torontopaye.ca or contact Jennifer Posthumus at (416) 397-0722.