English for New Bostonians began implementing our Workplace ESOL initiative with restaurants, manufacturers and supermarket chains in 2020, to help immigrants advance careers and mployers benefit from untapped talent. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, ENB rapidly redesigned a workplace ESOL model deliverable through virtual instruction. This highly successful initiative enabled workers to continue advancing while idled from their jobs. As Boston continues to recover, employers seek ENB’s guidance and expertise in teaching English contextualized to specialized workplaces. Workplace ESOL across restaurant, supermarket, manufacturing, and building maintenance sectors includes courses customized for entry-level employees, managers and supervisors. Executives whose companies face workforce shortages increasingly recognize that offering quality jobs, with training and respect for diversity, proves to be a win-win solution.
Over the course of the pandemic, ENB has assisted our 20+ community ESOL programs to pivot to online instruction and address ongoing technical and staff challenges. This highly complicated endeavor provided a lifeline for limited English speakers, who have cherished seeing their ESOL teachers and classmates on Zoom while facing extremely chaotic lives and financial peril. ESOL staff help students with information on food access, filing for unemployment, housing assistance, and how to stay safe. ENB staff, as well as volunteers through the Allies for Immigrants ESOL Corps, fully engaged in helping teachers and students transition to virtual platforms. A key silver lining from the pandemic experience: hundreds of immigrants have made strides in digital literacy skills necessary for life and work in today’s economy.
