We have seen a large increase in the number of individuals applying for jobs at Bud's Warehouse over the last few weeks. The recession seems to finally be impacting the availability of warehouse and construction jobs in our community. This is happening at the same time that Bud’s Warehouse has several individuals ready to transition from our job-training program into employment in the community. We are now wrestling with the same dilemma that we experienced after 9/11. We have large numbers of people that want into our program while it is becoming more difficult to transition individuals out into better paying “real world” positions.
So, unfortunately, the fear factor starts to rise in our program employees. We’ve always had to walk a fine line between encouraging our staff to actively search for jobs as they near the end of our program while assuring them that we will not graduate them until they have a new opportunity.
But the reality is that most of our program participants really don’t want to leave us. Bud’s Warehouse has succeeded in creating an enjoyable and nurturing Christ-centered workplace that often isn’t found out in the real world. Individuals like working in our affirming workplace but we only accomplish our mission when they transition into better paying jobs in the real world.
Our hope is that in some small way our workplace can encourage other followers of Christ to create life-giving workplaces. Or, even better, that our program participants are equipped to positively impact other workplaces by being that light in a sometimes dark world.
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