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Workforce Development at Sargento Making a Long-Term Investment in our Current and Future Workforce
In 2016, Sargento created a new position for Workforce Development within its HR Team. Workforce Development is a longterm investment to connect and develop our future workforce with the skills we need to support our company to continue to grow and be successful. Over the past 6 years, Workforce Development at Sargento has grown from 6 paid student positions to over 50 paid student work-based learning experiences. Recently, Sargento has been opening more entry-level positions to provide the opportunity for students to transition to full-time, entry-level positions after they graduate from high school, technical college, or university.
“Student employees are our future workforce. We provide them with significant and meaningful projects, so they gain valuable skills and experiences and in return we receive great insights and recommendations as well as high potential future talent,” said Anne Troka, Senior Manager Community and Workforce Development.
Workforce Development supports both current employees and future employees with career development opportunities. It connects people, business, education, and communities. And it provides us with talent in critical, hard to fill areas including Maintenance, Engineering, Computer Science, Food Science, Marketing, and Production. Here are some of the workforce development programs and initiatives at Sargento:
Registered Apprenticeships
Maintenance Technician and CDL Truck Driving
Internships
Marketing, Sales, Food Science, Food Safety & Quality, Computer Science, Accounting, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Human Resources
Co-Ops
Engineering, Packaging, and Supplier Quality
Youth Apprenticeships
Computer Science, Supply Chain, Engineering, Quality, and Maintenance
Youth Co-Ops
Production
MFG 4.0 Business Education Partnership
Production, Maintenance, Engineering, and Computer Science
We created a student page on our career site so that students and teachers are aware of all of these career exploration opportunities: https://careers.sargento.com/us/en/ students. It is important for students to get an education and to also have experience and exposure while they are getting their degrees. Students and employers benefit from working together to build personal and professional relationships that help students understand what career they are most interested in before they graduate from high school, technical college, or university.
Building these successful career development opportunities takes commitment from department leaders and direct supervisors who serve as mentors and coaches. Being a mentor to an employee or student employee is important to helping people identify their strengths and interests to grow skills and experiences for a successful career.
There are less people in the workforce than ever before. Businesses need to create innovative programs and initiatives that support employees to learn on-the-job and grow into positions companies need, create opportunities for students to work at companies in critical and core areas, develop opportunities for underrepresented talent to develop the skills companies need, and stay connected to alumni, employees and student employees who leave the company in good standing, inviting them to return as boomerangs or asking them to make referrals. Workforce Development supports businesses with developing, attracting, and retaining talent with the skills, experiences, and diversity needed to continue to innovate and grow.
