PHOENIX — The City of Phoenix has launched a new initiative to try and better connect employers to people seeking work inside of their communities.
The new Mobile Career Unit (MCU) travels around the city and allows people to walk up, get help through application processes and then step inside the bus to have an interview with an employer.
"We learned during COVID, when we sent out vans to do testing, that there are many people who really appreciated being at their church, their kids' school, in their local library," Gallego said. "We’re doing the same thing with jobs."
The MCU is the city's submission in the 2021 Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Mayors Challenge, an international program geared towards funding innovative ideas from cities with populations larger than 100,000 residents.
Phoenix's program is currently in its testing phase. If the program does well enough to be recognized by the competition, the city will get $1 million to keep the program running.
"Phoenix, along with the 49 other finalist cities, have already proven that their ideas are tackling some of the most pressing issues facing cities around the world," said Andrea Coleman with the global mayors challenge. "Phoenix in particular, trying to help get their residents back to work—this is something that is a top priority for mayors around the world."
See more information on the MCU on the city's YouTube page here: