BRANCHBURG, N.J., February 20, 2014 _ Career opportunities and the future of employment in New Jersey were the focus of a conference convened today, as experts behind New Jersey’s seven state Talent Networks were invited by the Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) to meet job-seekers, students and people interested in changing careers.

Entitled the “ABCs of Career Transition to Career Opportunity,” the RVCC-organized conference focused on the growing job opportunities within seven major industry clusters around which Governor Chris Christie and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development built the state’s Talent Networks.

“These seven industry clusters already employ more than two-thirds of the workers in New Jersey and pay more than two thirds of the wages paid annually. Our Talent Networks are helping us to identify the skills employers in these clusters need to find in prospective new-hires so that people can obtain the skills they need to find new careers,” said state Labor Commissioner Harold J. Wirths.

Raritan Valley Community College’s Workforce Development Division sponsored the event, which was held at the college Conference Center to allow attendees to learn about training, in-demand career areas, employment trends and local industry opportunities. 

New Jersey’s Talent Networks were created with grants issued by the Labor Department to focus on industry clusters identified by the department’s labor analysts. The Talent Network industry clusters and the institutions operating each Talent Network include:

• Advanced Manufacturing (New Jersey Institute of Technology)
• Financial Services (Newark Alliance)
• Health Care (Rutgers University)
• Life Sciences (BioNJ)
• Retail, Hospitality and Tourism
  • North Jersey (Farleigh Dickinson University)
  • South Jersey (Richard Stockton College)
• Transportation, Logistics and Tourism (Rutgers University)
• Technology and Entrepreneurship (New Jersey Institute of Technology)

“The breadth and depth of economic growth initiatives in New Jersey bringing job-seekers, businesses, education and training resources, and community and government agencies together are exceptional.  The Talent Networks bring a rich portfolio of these tools and partnerships to assist employers with hiring well trained and experienced employees critical to the success of their business,” said Michel Bitritto, director of the Technology & Entrepreneurship Talent Network.

“Few people are aware of the diversity of jobs within the Transportation, Logistics and Distribution (TLD) industry, especially those that have not worked within it.  The TLD Talent Network can help older workers and others considering a career change to understand the opportunities and trends in this critical New Jersey sector,” said Jennifer Cleary of the TLD Talent Network.

Last year, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the Department of Labor created an additional, special Recovery New Jersey Talent Network to respond to the disaster. Directed by Ocean County College, the Recovery New Jersey Talent Network is working to identify the needs of businesses and job-seekers impacted by the storm.

To learn more about New Jersey’s Talent Networks, go to http://careerconnections.nj.gov/or click on: http://careerconnections.nj.gov/careerconnections/partners/talent/talent_networks.shtml.