Want a free way to leverage promotion of your employment opportunities to the whole state? The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has just launched the #GoodJobsNow campaign, an initiative designed to let job seekers know that companies across multiple industries are still hiring for quality jobs that pay a living wage. In the announcement of the campaign, DEED Commissioner Steve Grove said, “Right now, as many Minnesotans face uncertainty, DEED is working to provide job seekers with job opportunities and career training resources through virtual CareerForce services, our regularly updated 30 Jobs in Demand list, the Dislocated Worker Program and now the #GoodJobsNow visualization.” Target industries for this campaign in the Greater Mankato Area include manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, transportation, construction, and IT.

Social media has become an increasingly popular tool for learning about job opportunities for workers across our state and this effort will bring the job opportunities that exist in our region to these platforms. In addition, DEED will be promoting this campaign to news outlets, on the DEED website, and the CareerForce website. Career counselors will guide job seekers to the jobs shared via this campaign. Finally, this campaign will be shared via targeted emails to those who are receiving unemployment benefits.

How can employers get involved?

The easiest way to get involved is to share posts about the quality jobs available at your company via social media posts. Posts can include videos, but it is not necessary. Videos don’t need to be high budget. Short, cell-phone shot videos from company leadership or recruiters talking about the benefits of working at your business are perfect for this campaign. All posts should include the hashtag, #GoodJobsNow and should also address some of the following topics:

• Your name and company
• One unique aspect about your company or culture that job seekers should know?
• What jobs are you hiring for?
• What skills are you looking for? 
• Do you offer on-the-job training for those skills?
• How can people learn more about these opportunities? 

In addition, businesses can submit a video to DEED and the best jobs will be shared via DEED’s social media channels and website and will be placed on an interactive map (depicted below). To submit a video to DEED, businesses can use link labeled “Join Us” at the #GoodJobsNow webpage. Businesses can also share their videos with Jessica Miller, DEED’s Workforce Strategy Consultant in our region, by emailing her at [email protected].