ALLin4WorkReady

About WorkReady

 

In the city of Philadelphia, about 16,000 young people apply for WorkReady each year, yet less than half are connected to opportunities. As we continue to build our future talent pipeline, it's crucial that we support early career preparation to put our region's young talent on the right track for a successful career.

Businesses of any size and industry can participate. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia participated in the program by hiring a young person, providing them with access to a meaningful paid work experience which promotes self-efficacy and builds the transferable skills required for young talent to secure and sustain employment.

WorkReady Youth

"We believe in supporting and expanding workforce development to help young people within the city. Like many previous years, we were very satisfied with the commitment and dedication our summer student provided. We strongly encourage other employers to get involved because this will help shape the lives of future youth within the city."
- Stacy Coates, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

That's why in 2020 we are asking the business community to be #ALLin4WorkReady and to help ensure that every young person who wants a summer job can have one. The goal is to raise $5 million in new funds for Summer 2020 from employers, investors, philanthropists and community members.

Hire Interns

 

In addition to shaping your future workforce, hiring interns can help your organization:

  • Provide a leadership opportunity to junior employees by giving them a supervisory role in managing an intern.
  • Encourage diversity of thought, which benefits your business — participating young people come from different backgrounds and offer fresh perspectives.
  • Participate in a collective effort to contribute to the future success of our region's economy, which depends on having a talented and highly skilled workforce.

Hiring interns is much easier than you think.

  • The Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN), managing partner of WorkReady Summer, offers employers the benefit of serving as the employer of record and manages payroll and administrative costs.
  • You will not be expected to do figure it all out on your own. Multiple resources including the Worksite toolkit will be available to help you craft a quality worksite experience for you and the interns.
Get Started  

The deadline to sign up is April 30. The cost to hire at $9/hr is $2,200 per intern for 120 hours.

Unable to hire? Consider sponsoring the program. Your financial contribution will support work experiences at local small businesses and nonprofit organizations.

WorkReady Timeline for Employers

April and May

Host sites interview youth candidates and make hiring decisions (based on program partner).
Program partners will provide training and orientation to worksite supervisors.

June

>Youth Orientation with assigned program partner for all youth hired to work in summer 2020.

July and August

WorkReady 6-week summer jobs.

Testimonials

 

Hear directly from employers on why they invest in WorkReady:

Hear directly from those that have been impacted by businesses investing in summer jobs:

DeAndre Jones

PYN Snapshots

Snapshots

Summer jobs stories from previous participants.

Read Snapshots  

Read more about WorkReady's employer model in Urban Institute's "Employer Engagement in Summer Youth Employment Programs."

Become a Worksite

 
Register (Option 2)  

Businesses and individuals can have a significant impact in shaping the future workforce of our region when they participate in WorkReady. A worksite is a physical location with a caring adult where a participant is learning skills on their career journey. Joining WorkReady as a worksite allows you to build a strong community, improve outcomes for young people and grow your talent needs. A worksite is connected through a WorkReady program partner.

Worksite Partners

Every summer, young people in Philadelphia have the opportunity to participate in WorkReady, a 6-week paid work experience managed by PYN. When PYN contracts with program partners, we provide access to a network of high-quality education and career-readiness programs that integrate positive youth development. These program partners recruit youth and sign up worksites where young people will work. Across 5 program types, participants will have the opportunity to:

  • Learn through real-life, on-the-job experiences
  • Establish positive relationships with caring adults who serve as navigators, instructors, facilitators, and workplace guides
  • Build social networks through shared experiences and peer learning
  • Reflect on experiences and identify personal growth
  • Acquire and enhance critical skills and mindsets required for future success in school, work and life

As employer of record, PYN is required to abide by the regulations of employment law by collecting all required employment documentation and administering pay. Worksites are required to ensure participant safety, abide by the child labor law and follow OSHA standards.

Worksite Toolkit

Worksite Toolkit

Check out the Worksite Toolkit for a list of required worksite postings, as well as other resources.

Worksite Toolkit  

How to get connected as a worksite:

  • For program partner information visit WorkReady.org/providers.
  • If you are unable to find a program partner accepting worksites, complete the online interest form, option 2. Completing this form does not guarantee connection to a program partner.
  • We encourage medium to large worksites (50+ employees) to participate in the employer-funded internship program. This will guarantee placement of youth participants.

Worksite Resources

What is a Quality Worksite?

A high-quality worksite facilitates meaningful work experience by helping youth gain the skills necessary to compete in the 21st century global economy. Quality worksites provide a welcoming and inclusive environment where all young people are given the opportunity to connect with an adult supervisor and feel safe. In order to do that:

  • Adhere to all OSHA guidelines for a safe working environment
  • Provide youth with an orientation to the worksite's history, services, policies and staff roles/organizational structure
  • Connect youth to an active workplace mentor who provides task-specific support, offers objective feedback on interpersonal and job-related professional skills, recognizes exceptional work and growth and promotes development of necessary skills and mindsets
  • Offer youth access to, and hands-on training with, current/emerging industry-specific technologies
  • Provide opportunities for youth to handle conflict and inform strategies to incorporate constructive feedback into their professional responsibilities
  • Create benchmarks to measure task competency and communicate those benchmarks to employees and youth
  • Continually assess and align their workforce needs to the Career Development Framework (CDF)

2019 Worksites

Organizations that invest in various youth programming across the WorkReady system

DIAMOND (Directly Hired or Financially Supported 100+ Summer Jobs)

City of Philadelphia 〰 City of Philadelphia, Department of Human Services 〰 City of Philadelphia, Department of Parks and Recreation 〰 Philadelphia Works

PLATINUM (Directly Hired or Financially Supported 25 - 99 Summer Jobs)

Bank of America 〰 Citizens Bank 〰 Comcast 〰 Drexel University 〰 Independence Blue Cross 〰 Lenfest Foundation 〰 PECO 〰 United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey 〰 Wells Fargo

GOLD (Directly Hired or Financially Supported 10-24 Summer Jobs)

Amerihealth Caritas 〰 Cancer Treatment Centers of America 〰 CHUBB 〰 H. Chase Lenfest 〰 Jefferson

SILVER (Directly Hired or Financially Supported 1-9 Summer Jobs)

AECOM 〰 Alston Beech Foundation 〰 Bank of America 〰 Brown's Superstores Inc. 〰 The Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia 〰 The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia 〰 CityLife Health 〰 Community College of Philadelphia 〰 CVS Health 〰 Customers Bank 〰 Deloitte LLP 〰 Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation 〰 Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC 〰 Educational Data Systems, Inc. 〰 Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates 〰 Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia 〰 Fox & Roach Charities 〰 Jefferson Health - Northeast 〰 Lutron Electrics 〰 M&T Bank 〰 Morgan, Lewis & Bockius 〰 Parkway Corporation 〰 Peirce College 〰 Pennoni Associates Inc. 〰 Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine 〰 Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO 〰 Philadelphia Gas Works 〰 Philadelphia International Airport 〰 Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Health and Welfare Fund 〰 Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) 〰 Philadelphia Regional Port Authority 〰 The Rittenhouse Foundation 〰 The Southeastern Pennsylvania Manufacturing Alliance (SEPMA) 〰 SMG - Pennsylvania Convention Center 〰 Slalom, LLC 〰 Stoneleigh Foundation 〰 Subaru Foundation 〰 Tierney 〰 University City Science Center 〰 Visit Philadelphia 〰 The Wawa Foundation 〰 Wills Eye Health System

Contact Us

 

WorkReady is managed by the Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN). If you have questions or need help getting connected to a summer program partner, you can contact PYN directly by: