On a sunny Thursday earlier in July, more than 200 job seekers streamed through an atrium at Seattle Central College, introducing themselves to one potential employer after another. They handed out resumes and collected flyers about openings and training opportunities at restaurants, hotels, and other jobs in the hospitality industry.
Dressed in a crisp, white button-down and black slacks, a FareStart graduate named Jennifer (she/her) raved, “I am loving this! There are several places with large numbers of openings, which gives me a good, fair shot at a position.”
It might have seemed like any other job fair, but this was the start of something new — the debut event of a regional initiative called Sound Jobs that aims to strengthen the region’s hospitality industry and workforce with training and support for both employers and employees.
Funded through a three-year $3 million Critical Sectors Job Quality Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Sound Jobs is led by the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County (WDC) in partnership with FareStart and a coalition that includes WeTrain Washington, Seattle Good Business Network, and the Pacific Northwest Hospitality Training Program.
“This initiative is about ensuring hospitality jobs are gateways to economic mobility,” Marie Kurose (she/her), CEO of the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County, said in a news release announcing Sound Jobs earlier this year.
“Through this project, we’re helping employers attract and retain talent while empowering workers—especially untapped talent from marginalized communities—to build careers that support their families and strengthen our regional economy.”
FareStart will develop and facilitate training workshops for Sound Jobs employers, sharing strategies for recruiting and retaining workers. Practices can include partnering with workforce development programs to expand employers’ talent pools, as well as implementing standardized interview and skills-based evaluation processes to reduce bias.
As they go through the program, Sound Jobs employers will also learn from each other, asking and answering questions about opportunities such as improving employee benefits and offering clear pathways for continued professional development and advancement.
Employers will undergo an in-depth workplace well-being assessment, developed by Sound Jobs partner Braided Rivers, to identify priorities they’ll work on to improve their recruitment and retention strategies.
Alex Castro, co-owner of The Salvadorean Bakery and Restaurant in White Center, is one of the first businesses to join Sound Jobs. He’s eager to learn ways to manage people more effectively and is grateful that Sound Jobs will provide him and his staff with free access to training and resources valued at $20,000.
“As a small business, we don’t have a lot of resources like big corporations do to do this kind of training,” he said.
The Salvadorean Bakery was one of several stops that Jennifer, the FareStart grad, made throughout the day. She landed two interviews right there at the job fair and applied for a third opening in Compass Group’s network of foodservice employers.
“Things are looking pretty sun-shiny,” she beamed.
In addition to leading employer training, FareStart will create a workforce program directory for employers and tools for job seekers to help them pursue specific career pathways, like front of house, back of house, union jobs, and apprenticeships.
Sound Jobs training will mirror the support that FareStart’s national consulting team has provided to workforce development organizations, employment social enterprises, nonprofits, and other opportunity employers across the country for more than 20 years.
“Reducing poverty through employment pathways is not a solo act,” said Renee Martin, Vice President of Consulting. “It’s a communal effort that involves job seekers, workforce training programs, employers, community colleges, unions — an entire workforce ecosystem.”
FareStart and our Sound Jobs partners are actively recruiting employers to take part in the program. Learn more, apply, or nominate your employer at seakingwdc.org/sound-jobs.
Sound Jobs receives support and funding from various U.S. Department of Labor grants. Read more about USDOL grant funding at seakingwdc.org/stevens-amendment. Sound Jobs is an equal opportunity program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Washington Relay Service: 711
