Help for the unemployed

SARASOTA –– Have you lost your job? Don’t know where to look?

A collaborative effort between several organizations in Sarasota and Manatee counties is online to offer assistance to those newly unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Called JobFocus at www.jobfocus.com, the website offers a variety of vehicles for job seekers who’ve lost their jobs in the wave of the pandemic to seek employment.

Two boxes at the top of the webpage are specifically directed to workers seeking jobs and employers who are looking for labor. The link for workers contains a list of available jobs in the region––158 as of April 6––as well as a search function to seek a specific employment sector or employer.

For employers, their link takes them to a form that will easily and quickly let them create a job posting.

Besides listing available jobs in the region, JobFocus also contains useful links for the unemployed such as the state’s reemployment website, Careersource Suncoast, and Employ Florida, as well as others.

“We’re open for business, just open differently,” CareerSource Suncoast President and CEO Ted Ehrlichman told the Business Observer last week. “It’s our commitment to the community to help flatten the curve and prevent our healthcare system from being overrun while maintaining continuity of business operations and serving our clients the best we can under these conditions.”