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With the labor market as competitive as it is,
it makes good business sense to utilize creative
recruitment practices. Our retention rate for
hiring welfare recipients continues to be higher
than that of traditional entry-level hires.
We believe partnerships with community-based
organizations create win-win scenarios |
Ted English, President and CEO
The TJX Companies |
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| TJX Companies |
When the TJX Companies, Inc, the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the
United States and worldwide, committed in 1997 to hiring 5,000 former welfare recipients by 2000 as part of the
Welfare-to-Work Program, the Company had no way of knowing that they would discover a qualified workforce with a
retention rate that was much higher than traditional sources. The program has been so successful that TJX has
hired more than 26,000 associates from public assistance – more than five times its original goal.
TJX’s “First Step Program” focuses on the hardest to serve in the welfare population.
It provides classroom training, case management, internships and job placement. First Step Programs are currently
in place in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit and Atlanta.
The Company’s high retention rate with associates from the Welfare-to-Work Program is tied to the
availability of ongoing job training and increasing employee access to additional government benefits.
For example, TJX provides English language training to associates in their distribution centers and
corporate office. TJX also provides training that helps prepare associates for management positions
by building the skills and confidence needed to ensure success.
TJX has also increased associate awareness of and access to federal and state benefits. For example,
TJX printed and distributed brochures explaining eligibility requirements of the Food Stamp Program
in Bosnian, Portuguese and Vietnamese in addition to those already provided in Spanish and English.
The Company also actively raises awareness of the Advance Earned Income Tax Credit and the Children’s
Health Insurance Program. The Conference Board also documented the success of TJX in its report entitled
Innovative Public-Private Partnerships: Welfare-to-Work Initiatives (2000).
TJX surpassed $10 billion in sales in 2002. The Company operates 703 T.J. Maxx, 599 Marshalls,
129 HomeGoods and 56 A.J. Wright stores in the United States. In Canada, the Company operates
137 Winners and 11 HomeSense stores, and in Europe, 110 T.K. Maxx stores.
For more information about TJX and their involvement with Welfare to Work and Government Programs,
please contact Patrick Flavin at (508) 390-3639.
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