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Rapid Response Services

Helping Businesses & Communities Thrive

Rapid Response Service Team provides free, integrated business support

The Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) aims to lessen the hardship felt by all individuals impacted by economic hardships, whether as business owners or as employees.

In today's globalized and highly competitive economy, businesses are continuously facing new challenges. A trained workforce is but one of those challenges in successfully competing and prospering in today's market.

The Rapid Response Service Team provides a proactive, customized approach in addressing specific business needs or challenges as they arise. Services can include assistance in business partnerships in competitive markets, layoff aversion, coordination of business closure to maximize public and private resources, or re-employment of impacted workers. In addition, Rapid Response has access to available skilled workers for rapid growth to maintain a competitive edge.

How We Support Businesses

Rapid Response Services helps businesses in a variety of ways. Businesses or employers can work with the Rapid Response team as part of their internal crisis management plan to help ensure business continuity in the event of a natural disaster, economic hardship or closure.

In addition, Rapid Response can provide strategic planning, data gathering and analysis to help anticipate, prepare for, and manage an economic transition or hardship. If a closure or mass layoff is inevitable, Rapid Response helps businesses and local communities cope with the effects.

Rapid Response is mobilized when a business reaches out for assistance in planning, when Pennsylvania experiences job dislocation caused by a disaster or when L&I is notified of a business closure or planned layoff through the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act or WARN. Rapid Response services are state and federally funded benefits and are of no cost to employers or employees.

Rapid Response also assists in the development of strategic and coordinated planning and collaboration with local economic development organizations and programs to assist businesses at risk of closing to stay in business or to reduce the size of a layoff.

Impacted by Foreign Competition or Trade?

Rapid Response can help businesses affected by trade through a collaborative approach with local, state, and federal partners to build market share and global competitiveness while offering incumbent worker training and technical assistance.

Rapid Response also helps affected workers with reemployment and training and can complete Trade Adjustment Assistance petitions when downsizing events are related to foreign trade. Learn more about the benefits of the Trade program. 

If you have to layoff, Rapid Response can help.
Rapid Response can help with coordinating your outplacement activities at no cost.  The goal of Rapid Response Services is to assist businesses in coordinating the needed service delivery to assist your workforce during transition. This approach allows the employer to:

  • Better manage human resource needs, unemployment insurance costs, and worker compensation costs during the transition
  • Help affected workers return to work and maintain their standard of living
  • Maintain good corporate citizenship in the community
  • Improve worker morale by showing a good-faith effort in providing all available assistance
  • Maintain or increase productivity during the transition period and beyond

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