Recognizing when “thank you” isn’t enough
John Healy
Fractional Workforce Solutions Executive. Designing the most relevant ways for people to connect with work and executing those improvements every day.
How Michigan is giving back to frontliners bearing the risk of the pandemic
Yard signs, billboards, posters, and posts. They’re recognizing and thanking the frontliners – essential workers who are staffing our hospitals and nursing homes, educating our children, stocking grocery stores, providing childcare for critical infrastructure workers, manufacturing PPE, protecting public safety, picking up trash, and delivering supplies.
The list of essential workers goes on, as does the work. They are the people often up before dawn at the quiet times when the rest of us are sleeping, the ones who keep our world moving.
One state is now leading the way to recognize them.
“Free tuition for essential workers!” said Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, announcing the Futures for Frontliners program in September. The program website underscores her words. Futures for Frontliners will provide a tuition-free pathway to college or a technical certificate to essential workers in Michigan who don’t have a college degree.
The program comes at a critical time and is long overdue. Frontliners have kept our economies and communities going during the pandemic. Access to education, be it a path to a degree or a certificate that increases your value as a worker, is one of the best ways society can enrich the lives of those who made personal sacrifices to be on the front lines.
To make this program a reality, Michigan employers will need to step up by:
- Ensuring that front-line workers are aware of the program
- Encouraging essential workers to take advantage of the opportunity
- Granting frontliners the necessary accommodations so that they can take the classes
Join Kelly in supporting Michigan’s frontliners!