Skilled 4 Work: NMDWS launches tool to connect workers to employers

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The state’s Department of Workforce Solutions is launching a new tool to try to get New Mexicans back to work.

Ricky Serna, the acting Workforce Solutions director, knows New Mexico has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

"What you’re seeing in New Mexico is the result of a governor being really calculated, right? Opening up the state when it is safe to do so, and our unemployment numbers will follow that level of calculated risk," Serna said.

Change in coming, though – because federal unemployment assistance will end in September.

"We’re getting increasingly excited as we get closer to Sept. 4 – more New Mexicans will obviously visit us and ask for our help and assistance," Serna said.

The department’s newest tool is hoping to connect New Mexicans with an affordable wage.

It’s called Ready NM – a one-stop platform to connect workers to employers, and help employers find the help they need.

"One, it helps address the short-term problem of getting workers back into the economy as the state reopens. But, two, I think it’s a framework for something bigger and more long term," Serna said.

The platform also aims to help people searching for a career change. It offers different programs to help folks get qualified for work in the trades.

For more information on Ready NM, click here.