Downriver Today

The city of Detroit is set to host a series of Skills for Life hiring events to fill more than 200 positions within the general services department.

In a release Feb. 8, Services and Infrastructure Group Executive Brad Dick said the ability to gain skills will be pivotal in helping workers maintain lifelong careers.

“As we hire Detroiters we also want to provide (an) opportunity for them to gain not only skills but education that will help them to sustain their careers well into the future,” Dick said in the release. “Learning the skills and getting the experience and qualifications that employers in this sector look for, all while providing a service that is critical to our city right now.”

According to the release, Skills for Life is a work training program designed to pay Detroiters to learn new job skills and to remove educational barriers to employment. With this, residents will be able to work three days a week and take classes toward their chosen educational path for two days while being paid at a starting wage of $15 per hour. 

This comes as a result of an extensive round of community engagement meetings to identify American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) spending priorities and to gain city council approval, the release states. Among positions to be filled, workers will contribute to beautifying the city with physical improvements to Detroit’s neighborhoods, such as cleaning parks and  removing graffiti, trash and overgrowth from commercial areas, the release states. Participants will be offered training in skilled and other trades alongside IT and other high-demand careers. 

In-person hiring events will take place Feb. 8, Feb. 15, Feb. 23 and March 1 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m at the Patton Recreation Center, Lasky Recreation Center, Adams Butzel Complex and the Heilmann Recreation Center, accordingly. Virtual hiring events will also be held over Zoom Feb. 24 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and on Feb. 17 and March 2 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at https://cityofdetroit.zoom.us/j/4598231165.