Monday was the first day of Cleveland State Community College’s new Quick Job Recovery Bootcamp – a short-term workforce training benefiting those who lost their jobs due to COVID-19.
The bootcamp is not a job placement service. It offers three six-week-or-less courses that will provide nationally recognized certification for welders, Microsoft Office specialists or heating, ventilation and air conditioning technicians.
After completion of the class, students will leave with equipment such as a $1,000 laptop for the Microsoft course, $600 worth of HVAC technician tools or tools from the welding course.
Andrea Byerly, the college’s workforce and economic development project coordinator, said the reason for providing courses in those three particular industries is because the jobs are considered high demand.
Workforce website indeed.com quoted the average hourly wage for an HVAC tech in Chattanooga at $28 to $38 an hour – and the Bureau of Labor Statistics specifically predicted 21% growth in the field nationwide through 2022. The site also said welders locally make around $18 to $24 an hour and MicroSoft Office specialists make $15 to $24 an hour – both jobs with a 3% growth rate expected through 2024.