The New York State Department of Labor has awarded the BMCC Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development a $500,000 grant over two years for The Fast Food, Fast Track VESL Project: Language Skills for Career Mobility. This project will provide contextualized, vocational English-language (VESL) instruction to 180 McDonald’s employees over the next two years.
BMCC, the lead agency in this project, will develop curricula, and provide instruction in collaboration with the New York City College of Technology and LaGuardia Community College.
An Influx of Non-English Speaking Immigrants
The next few years will see employers, employees and customers in the service industry struggling to communicate with the influx of non-English speaking immigrants over the past two decades. With many hard workers unable to move into management positions due to language barriers and employers looking to promote those same workers, the need to train the industries workforce in English communication and leadership skills is critical.
Foreign-born Workers Make-up 43 Percent of NYC’s Labor Force
Lynn McGee, curriculum developer and instructor of the BMCC/CUNY Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development, said, “Foreign-born workers make up 43 percent of New York City’s total labor force, yet account for two-thirds of the City’s low-wage earners.”
“We are pleased to have the McDonald’s Corporation as our business partner in this project because of their reputation for hiring immigrant employees, as well as their corporate philosophy of training and promoting from within. The English-language classes this project provides will strengthen the students’ ability to advance within their current workplace, as well as to pursue long-term goals, transfer skills to a related industry or continue their education.”
The grant capitalizes on the collaboration of BMCC and McDonald’s in a prior English as a Second Language (ESL) leadership and supervisory project. The earlier program’s research showed that, according to U.S. Census figures, 17.2 percent of people working in foodservice throughout the U.S. were Hispanic and often spoke little or no English. BMCC helped McDonalds to identify the need for a program that addresses growing communication needs and to foster future leaders.
Purpose of the Program
The specific purpose of the program is to improve both retention and advancement of McDonald’s swing managers. BMCC will offer a customized curriculum focusing on English language instruction and training on customer service, worksite safety and supervisory skills topics. Recognizing the necessity for candidates to maintain full time jobs, BMCC is offering evening and weekend classes.
“The grant from the New York State Department of Labor will give BMCC a new way to develop future leaders among today’s workforce,” said BMCC President Dr. Antonio Pérez. “We at BMCC are proud to embrace the responsibility of higher educational institutions to educate and train a knowledgeable and skilled workforce.”
The grant will be used to:
- Design and implement a curriculum package of 160 hours which focuses on the dual need for both English language instruction and workplace leadership skills.
- Recruit and enroll 220 candidates with 200 completing the program and earning certificates of completion from either BMCC or City Tech.
- Maintain accurate measurements of success through case management and employer evaluation of trainees. Case managers will collect relevant documentation such as employment history and current wage information via pay stubs. Employer’s senior managers and owner-operators evaluations will take place prior to, during and following the program.
