There's a new state website that consolidates programs for Hawaiʻi residents seeking remote work and for employers looking to hire local talent.
When residents register on the site, it automatically notifies the American Job Center, which is funded through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The program supports those who are unemployed as well as those who are underemployed or looking to advance their career and improve their skills.
After registering, workers are connected with one of two state partners.
- Instant Teams – Remote Ready Hawai‘i Project, building a team of locally-based workers who are qualified residents, to address remote customer service needs through paid training, internship and placement on a team.
- Nexrep – Selecting workers from Hawaiʻi to provide customer service solutions.
Employers can access the state’s job board and resources on registering a business. Because remote work falls under interstate commerce, a business looking to hire Hawaiʻi workers may need to register as a foreign company.
The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, and the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations worked together to launch the site.
Scott Murakami, an economic development coordinator with DBEDT’s economic innovation team, said he has received inquiries about hiring local remote workers. An IT company in Pennsylvania has hired several remote workers from Hawaiʻi.
"The reason they hired them was that they had actually tried running 24/7 shifts in Pennsylvania," Murakami said. "That just didn't work out. So then they tried sourcing overseas which really didn't work out for them, so they tried finding a couple of people in Hawaiʻi. That worked out pretty well for them.”
Head to invest.hawaii.gov/remote for more.
