Program has jobs for older workers

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A program that helps older workers find jobs is looking for Green Valley residents to fill 50 to 100 vacancies.

The Mature Worker Connection, run through the Pima Council on Aging, has registered about 115 businesses in Green Valley, Sahuarita and Tucson since it extended from Tucson into the Green Valley area in 2007. It’s goal is to help connect workers age 50 and up with employers who have job openings.

Tough economic times have had a “significant impact” on the program, said its director, Roger Forrester.

“We’ve had to work at least three times as hard to get job vacancies,” he said. “But our job seekers need us now more than ever.”

Forrester said an important aspect of the Mature Worker Connection is training job seekers to be competitive in a difficult job market where the state is seeing a nearly 8 percent unemployment rate. They do this by helping prospective workers with their resume writing and computer literacy skills.

However, older workers already have an edge on the competition, he said.

“Employers like hiring seniors because they usually have very good experience and a great work ethic,” he said. “They’re normally well-educated, they show up for work on time, and in general they have a positive attitude.”

Among positions available are sales managers, assistant store managers, caregivers, receptionists, community service counselors, maintenance workers and other customer-service jobs. They are full time, part time and seasonal.

Mature Worker Connection is online at www.matureworkerconnection.com, and has posted a database of available jobs. Or call 623-3304 to set up an appointment at the Pima Council on Aging’s regional office in Green Valley, which is in the administrative offices of the Community Performing Arts Center, 1250 W. Continental Road. Interviews for the Mature Worker Connection are on Wednesdays.

The program got its start in Tucson in 2006, and was soon tailored to Green Valley and Sahuarita. The PCOA said the program has been so successful that it is starting them elsewhere.