Abilities Foundation to Get Placement Officer to Assist Graduates

In an effort to identify and secure more employment opportunities for their graduates and trainees, the Abilities Foundation of Jamaica, will be seeking to bring on board, a Placement Officer.
This was disclosed by Manager of the Foundation, Grace Taylor, in an interview with JIS News.
“We are very proud of the fact that we have produced many graduates and they are out there making their marks. But we are still not satisfied with the level of employment that is being provided for these persons and we feel that a lot more can be done in the society in general, to recognise what these persons have to offer,” she said.
“We have designed a project, called Empowerment and Employment, and the whole aim of that is to have a job placement officer (at the Foundation), who would work with the trainees, to help them prepare for employment,” Miss Taylor added.
According to the Manager, the Placement Officer’s job would also entail following up with the employers, as the Foundation is aware that some organisations may experience difficulties and the Placement Officer would play a pivotal role in helping to iron out these issues.
“The Placement Officer will not just work with the trainees to place them, but do the follow-up, because it is very important to work with the employers, to iron out the difficulties that will arise, because we know that there will be challenges and there will have to be adjustments and accommodation,” she pointed out.
Miss Taylor said that despite the challenges, there are employers out there, who are adding the disabled to their staff.
“While it is hard for disabled persons to get employment, there are some employers who are doing a wonderful job. For example, Mr. Kenneth Loshusan, owner of the Loshusan Supermarket, has employed a number of our trainees in his supermarket over the years. He has come up with a strategy to pin a button on the disabled, so that customers can know that they are deaf and will not get insensitive and say that they are talking and getting no response. He also said that the trainees work very well,” the Manager informed.
The Foundation is a training institution for persons with disabilities. They train persons in seven different skills, house keeping, furniture making, ornamental horticulture, data operation, garment construction, office administration, and landscaping.