WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO START?
Find your path with Merge.
Whether you are looking for career support, hiring talent, funding workforce development, or volunteering your time; there is a place for you here.
CANDIDATES
Build my career
Free training, resume support, interview prep, employer connections, and post-placement coaching for young adults 18 to 28 facing barriers to employment.
EMPLOYERS
Hire talent
Access pre-screened, job-ready candidates across construction, solar, HVAC, and facility services. Reduce recruiting friction and build a stronger entry-level pipeline.
SUPPORTERS
Support Merge
Your support funds training, transportation assistance, coaching, and career pathway development for young adults who need a fair shot at sustainable employment.
VOLUNTEERS
Volunteer
Offer mock interviews, resume reviews, mentorship, or professional workshops. One conversation can be the thing that helps someone take their next step.
HOW MERGE WORKS
Five steps. One sustainable career.
Merge does not stop at training. We walk alongside candidates from the first barrier removed all the way through long-term career growth.
Get support
We meet you where you are. Transportation, childcare, housing, financial literacy, and mentorship matching before training even begins.
Get trained
Hands-on, industry-specific training with certifications that employers recognize. Resume development and interview preparation included.
Get connected
Direct introductions to employer partners. Pre-screened job matching and professional network access that most candidates cannot build on their own.
Get hired
Placement with employer partners who are committed to the candidate’s success. Merge stays involved with both sides from day one.
Keep growing
30, 90, and 180-day check-ins. Ongoing coaching, employer relationship management, and pathways to advancement. Getting hired is not the finish line.
This fifth step is what separates Merge from every other workforce organization in the region.
MEASURED IMPACT
The numbers speak
Every metric below represents a real person, a real placement, and a real career built with Merge support.
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THE PROBLEM WE SOLVE
The barriers are real
These are not statistics about strangers. They describe the reality of the young adults Merge works with every day.
1 in 9
Youth disconnected from school and work
California has hundreds of thousands of young people who are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the workforce.
20 to 30%
Foster youth who experience homelessness after aging out
Nearly one in four young people who age out of the foster care system experience homelessness within their first year of independence.
60 to 75%
Recidivism rate without stable employment
For justice-impacted individuals, unemployment is the single strongest predictor of reincarceration. Employment is protective, not just beneficial.
500k+
Skilled trade workers needed now
The construction and trades industries face a severe labor shortage. Merge is actively building the talent pipeline to help close that gap.
These are the barriers Merge was built to remove
Merge opportunities does not offer a single intervention and walk away. We provide training, mentorship, employer connections, transportation support, and post-placement coaching, because sustainable employment requires sustained support.
THE MERGE DIFFERENCE
Why Merge instead of another workforce organization?
Most workforce programs train and place. Then they move on. Merge does not. We stay involved with both the candidate and the employer long after placement because that is when careers are actually built or lost.
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🌟
Individualized career coaching
Every participant works with a coach who knows their situation, their goals, and their barriers personally.
📚
Technical training and certifications
Hands-on trade training with industry-recognized credentials that employers actively look for.
🤝
Direct employer connections
Every participant works with a coach who knows their situation, their goals, and their barriers personally.
🚗
Barrier-removal support
Transportation, childcare, housing, and financial literacy addressed before they become reasons someone loses a job.
📍
Post-placement retention support
30, 90, and 180-day check-ins with both the participant and the employer. Ongoing coaching, issue resolution, and career advancement support. This is what separates Merge from others.
🏡
Ongoing relationship with both sides
Merge maintains active relationships with employer partners to support retention, resolve issues, and facilitate advancement for placed candidates.
From uncertainty to a career in the trades
Marcus, construction apprentice, Long Beach, CA
Starting point: Aged out of foster care at 18 with limited work history and no clear career path.
What Merge provided: Job-readiness training, resume support, interview coaching, and transportation assistance through Drive2Thrive.
Career opportunity: Placed with an employer partner within eight weeks after completing OSHA-10 certification and hands-on construction training.
Where they are today: Employed for nine months, earning $24 per hour, with Merge still checking in and supporting advancement.
Merge didn’t just help me find a job. They helped me figure out who I wanted to be in my career, and they were still checking in six months later to make sure I was okay.
CAREER PATHWAYS
Trades that pay $20 to $30 and above per hour
No college degree required. These are careers with real
advancement, union benefits, and long-term stability.
🏗
CONSTRUCTION
$22–$38/hr to start
From general labor to skilled trades: framing, concrete, carpentry, and more. High demand, strong wages, and clear paths to foreman and superintendent roles.
☀
SOLAR ENERGY
$20–$34/hr to start
California’s fastest-growing trade. Installation, maintenance, and systems work, with massive demand across residential and commercial sectors.
🌡
HVAC
$24–$40/hr to start
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning—essential, recession-resistant work with strong apprenticeship pathways and consistent year-round demand.
🏢
FACILITY SERVICES
$18–$28/hr to start
Building operations, maintenance, and management in hospitals, airports, and commercial buildings. Entry-level access with strong advancement potential.
Additional pathways including electrical, plumbing, healthcare, hospitality, logistics, and mechatronics planned as Merge expands.
DRIVE2 THRIVE
Someone can do everything right and still lose a job because they cannot reliably get to work. Drive2Thrive connects participants with donated vehicles, turning the single biggest barrier to retention into a solved problem before it becomes a crisis.
#1
Youth disconnected from
school and work
Cause of early job loss among participants: lack of reliable transportation.
90
Foster youth who experience homelessness after aging out
Days when employment retention risk is highest without stable transportation.
FOR EMPLOYERS & CORPORATE PARNTERS
Your next best hire is
already in training
This is workforce development, not charity. Merge pre-screens candidates, handles certifications, and provides post-hire support that reduces turnover and cuts onboarding costs. ETP funding may also allow you to recover 30 to 60 percent of eligible training costs.
Placeholder for confirmed employer partner quote. This should be a real quote from a hiring partner such as AMPCO or Motive Workforce confirming the value of the Merge partnership and the quality of placed candidates.
VOLUNTEER WITH MERGE
One conversation
can change a
career
Your expertise can be the thing that helps a young adult take their next step. Merge needs individual volunteers and corporate volunteer teams.
👤
Individual volunteers
Professionals who want to share their expertise through mock interviews, resume reviews, mentorship, or workshops.
🏢
Corporate volunteer days
Bring your team to Merge for structured employee engagement that supports ESG goals and builds community.
🤵
Become a mentor
Recurring mentorship relationships with participants building their career foundation in your industry.
Companies: Corporate volunteer opportunities support your ESG commitments and CRA alignment. Contact Merge to plan a structured employee volunteer day.
GET INVOLVED
Invest in futures
that last.
Your monthly support creates workforce stability that doesn’t end after 90 days. Every dollar goes directly toward training, placement, and wraparound support.
Most Merge supporters give monthly. Monthly gifts provide the stability our programs depend on.
Monthly giving
Provides transportation support for one participant through the critical first 90 days of employment, reducing early job loss.
One-time gift
Funds a full resume and interview preparation session for a candidate preparing to enter the workforce.
Annual gift
Covers the full cost of career coaching and job-readiness training for one participant from enrollment through placement
Trusted across our community
Merge works alongside employers, community organizations, and funders who share our commitment to helping young adults build sustainable careers. Together, these partnerships help create a stronger path from opportunity to employment.
Employers who hire Merge talent
Community & referral partners
Funders & supporters
LATEST FROM MERGE
Active, growing, and current.
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Read more: Success Story
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Success Story
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Read more: Volunteering Event
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Volunteering Event
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Read more: Our Employer Partner
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Our Employer Partner
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Where would you like to go next?
Every path through Merge starts with one choice.
CANDIDATES
Build my career
Free training, resume support, interview prep, employer connections, and post-placement coaching for young adults 18 to 28 facing barriers to employment.
EMPLOYERS
Hire talent
Access pre-screened, job-ready candidates across construction, solar, HVAC, and facility services. Reduce recruiting friction and build a stronger entry-level pipeline.
SUPPORTERS
Support Merge
Your support funds training, transportation assistance, coaching, and career pathway development for young adults who need a fair shot at sustainable employment.
VOLUNTEERS
Volunteer
Offer mock interviews, resume reviews, mentorship, or professional workshops. One conversation can be the thing that helps someone take their next step.