By Godson Umejiego, Senior Correspondent USA

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programmes (OFCCP) and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)  have launched a joint initiative to reimagine hiring practices in ways that advance equal employment opportunity and help provide workers access to good jobs.

The Hiring Initiative to Reimagine Equity (HIRE) is a multi-year collaborative effort that will engage a broad array of stakeholders to expand access to good jobs for workers from underrepresented communities and help address key hiring and recruiting challenges.

As the US makes major investments in its infrastructure and recovery, HIRE will:

• Host convenings on organizational policy and practices to reimagine equity and expand opportunity in hiring.
• Identify strategies to remove unnecessary barriers to hiring, and to promote effective, job-related hiring and recruitment practices to cultivate a diverse pool of qualified workers.
• Promote equity in the use of tech-based hiring systems.
• Develop resources to promote adoption of innovative and evidence-based recruiting and hiring practices that advance equity.

OFCCP and EEOC will hold a virtual public roundtable on January 19, 2022, at 2pm ET to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and launch the initiative.

The fight for equal opportunity in the form of better jobs and higher wages played a critical role in Dr. King’s work. The roundtable, the first in a series of convenings, will focus on strategies for advancing racial equity and will bring together employers and worker organizations to understand how we can reimagine hiring practices in ways that advance equity and access to good jobs for underrepresented communities. As our nation rebuilds from the pandemic and adapts to a changing economy, the discussion will explore opportunities to connect and scale actionable solutions to advance equity in hiring.

Roundtable Speakers have been announced as follow:

• Director, US Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programmes, Jenny R. Yang
• Chair, US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Charlotte A. Burrows
• Vice Chair, US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Jocelyn Samuels
• CEO, League of United Latin American Citizens, Sindy Benavides
•  President and CEO, APT Metrics, Kathleen Lundquist
• Secretary Treasurer, AFL-CIO, Fred Redmond
• President and CEO, Association of Corporation Counsel, Veta Richardson
• Project Director and Founder, Los Angeles Black Worker Center, UCLA Labor Center, Lola Smallwood Cuevas

• President and CEO, Hispanic Association of Corporate Responsibility, Cid Wilson