At Comcast, investing in our communities is a top priority. And, with innovation at the heart of what we do, we are always looking for ways we can make an impact in the places where we live and we work.
Community Investment Meets Comcast Hiring
For the past three years, Comcast has supported Seattle Goodwill’s free job training and education program for Puget Sound residents with socio-economic barriers. The partnership has been a success—but we wondered; what could this program look like if we took it a step further, and trained to specific competencies needed for potential employment with Comcast?
Comcast’s Community Investment Director, Diem Ly, approached Talent Director, Mark Brown, with the idea.
“I was immediately intrigued,” said Brown. “We are always on the lookout for talented individuals to start a career in our Xfinity stores. Goodwill is a local organization we already support, so the idea of partnering to provide trainees with the specific skills we’re hiring to—it’s a great match.”
A New Pathway into Comcast
After months spent in development, the Comcast/Seattle Goodwill Workforce Development Program was born. The program continues to focus on job training and education for Puget Sound residents with socio-economic barriers—but it adds in an additional layer to prepare program attendees to interview for a position at a Washington Xfinity Store.
To put it simply, Comcast now has more skin in the game.
In the enhanced program, Comcast is part of the curriculum development to ensure the program content meets the needs of our business. In addition to a $50,000 financial commitment, Comcast is committed to interview qualifying, vetted graduates from the training program with the ultimate goal to hire participants into an Xfinity Store.
Seventy percent of Seattle Goodwill’s students live below the federal poverty line, and 30 percent have no high school diploma. For some, English is not their primary language – like the students from the Asian Counseling and Referral Service. For others, life events such as homelessness, domestic violence or a prison sentence have created barriers that have made education and job training difficult to achieve.
The program allows the Comcast trainers to get to know the students well before any job interview. Seattle Goodwill instructors, who have worked closely with the students for months, help facilitate those relationships.
Telling Our Story
Training for this pilot program began in January and runs through August with three cohorts, spanning 90 students. Seattle Goodwill expects at least 60 percent of the students will complete the program and move forward to interviews with Comcast.
Read more about the Comcast/Seattle Goodwill Workforce Development Program on crosscut.com.
This video tells the story of the unique partnership between Comcast and Seattle Goodwill. It aired on PBS Seattle during the intro to its hit show “Victoria” (#1 in PBS national ratings and #2 show in Seattle market) since January—and to date has reached over 1.4 million individual impressions. On the social media side, we have also seen success with 116,000 social media impressions—this includes views, shares, likes, retweets, etc.
