Employment Agency Helping Bring Older Folks Back To Work

DULUTH, Minn. — An employment agency in Duluth is helping employers bring the older crowd back to work.

NORTHFORCE received a grant from Age Friendly Minnesota to put together a returnship toolkit for employers to use for free. A returnship is similar to an internship but it is for someone who left the workforce and is looking for a way to get back into work. These people may need a little bit of extra training or flexibility with their schedules.

Returnships can often be overlooked according to NORTHFORCE but they believe there is a great need out there for this sort of program.

“I think that employers are looking to find those sorts of untapped pools of hidden talent, right? The folks who are interested in working but need a little bit extra maybe training or skills refreshment or things like that to get back into the workforce. And then on the candidate side, on the job seekers side we know that older workers are interested in getting back into the workforce if they left for say early retirement or caregiver responsibilities,” said Ali Bilden Camps, NORTHFORCE Program Manager and Consultant at Northspan.

The NORTHFORCE program manager says job seekers or employers looking to implement returnships into their hiring practice can reach out to her with questions.

Her information is here: acamps@northspan.org