The government of Guam is working on a plan to get thousands of residents back to work by subsidizing their salaries for three months, up to $9.25 per hour, said Department of Labor Director Dave Dell'Isola.

Dell'Isola announced the plan Thursday morning, during an economic forum at the Hyatt Regency Guam, where he was a panelist for one of the discussions.

The goal is to get as many people back to work before federal pandemic unemployment assistance ends in early September.

“What the governor and I have been talking about is a new program that we’re looking to stand up,” Dell'Isola said. “What it looks like it’s gonna be doing, in a nutshell, is businesses will submit to us their vacancies and we will fund three months - 480 hours - at $9.25 an hour. That will help our unemployed get up and get into jobs and help our private sector employers start to open up and hire and train. This will hopefully take care of... 5,000 to 6,000 positions.”

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero addresses Guam Hotel & Restaurant Association members, their guests and others during the organization's Economic Forum conducted at the Hyatt Regency Guam in Tumon on Thursday, June 24, 2021.

As an example, if an employee is paid $15 an hour, the program will subsidize $9.25 of their pay, Dell’Isola said.

"We are working to incentivize the return to work, so that you can be more aggressive on hiring," Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said during the economic forum. "It is designed to subsidize your new hires for three months, so that you can get back on your feet."

Dell’Isola said the number of people filing for pandemic unemployment has dropped significantly since April, by about 40%, but he estimates between 10,000 and 12,000 residents still need jobs.

He said the Labor Department, at the end of July, will require PUA applicants to search for work in order to be eligible for assistance checks. “This will force the PUA claimants to start going into (hireguam.com), develop a resume and start looking for work,” he said.

Dell’Isola said the Labor Department also has funding to train as many as 2,000 people for jobs in the tourism and hotel industries – training that is expected to result in employment.

Depoartment of Labor David Dell’Isola talks about assistance for the unemployed, in light of PUA funding coming to an end on Guam in September, as he speaks at the GHRA Economic Forum on June 23, 2021.

All of those efforts should get Guam “pretty close” to providing enough jobs for those who need them, Dell’Isola said.

“I want to involve the private sector in designing this program,” he said, and the plan is to create a task force including government and private-sector representatives.

The Labor Department will coordinate its efforts with the Guam Economic Development Authority, he said, so the payroll program complements GEDA’s small business assistance grants. Application forms could be consolidated to make it easier for businesses, he said.

The first round of panelists gather on stage to discuss the possibility of reopening of the island to tourism during the Guam Hotel & Restaurant Association's Economic Forum conducted at the Hyatt Regency Guam in Tumon on Thursday, June 24, 2021.

“We want to help these private sector businesses get stood up and get people back to work,” Dell’Isola said. “That’s the basic roadmap of how we’re looking at trying to open up when September comes. There’ll be a lot more details about the program, but I’m very excited the governor wants to look at giving a hand up instead of hand out. I think it’s time for that... as PUA ends and we start trying to get everybody up and working again.”

This article originally appeared on Pacific Daily News: Labor director: Government plans to subsidize salaries to help fill vacant jobs

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