We’re excited to announce Hope Central™ – a robust online resource and support system designed to help companies, communities, and workforce development organizations support furloughed and unemployed individuals at this time of unprecedented job losses due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“While an employer may lack the ability to avoid layoffs, furloughs, or reductions in force,” said Kuder Chairman and CEO Phil Harrington, “they do have control over how workers experience these unfortunate situations. Hope Central helps ensure employers are taking steps to treat their dislocated workers in a compassionate and supportive manner.”


Hope Central includes:

Access to Kuder Journey® – Our online career planning system designed to help adults:

  • Learn about career interests, skills confidence, and work values using research-based assessments.
  • Plan education, training, and career goals based on real-time assessment results.
  • Search for jobs, write resumes, and develop interview skills.

Branded Home Page – A configurable, white-labeled landing and log-in page, customizable with an organization’s logo and welcome message in both text and video formats.

Career Assessments – An 11-question interactive personal check-in to direct users to the most relevant and helpful content for developing a personal and career plan. The system’s Hope-Action Inventory helps users manage their personal and career plans more effectively.

Videos, How-to Resources and Articles – A resource center with educational content authored by global experts in areas including stress resiliency, trauma-informed career planning, mindfulness in times of crisis; personal health and wellness, and career coaching.

Kuder’s career coaches, professional counselors, and career development experts developed Hope Central as a holistic platform to help workers cope with unemployment and regain stability, both personally and professionally. Hope Central is designed to address individuals’ needs across five critical areas: social support, personal growth, career planning, professional development, and crisis resources.


“Hope Central is a comprehensive career service that attends to the emotional side of unemployment as well as to career exploration and practical job search strategies,” said Dr. Norman Amundson, professor emeritus of counseling psychology at the University of British Columbia, and Hope Central executive board member. “This full-service approach is designed to let laid-off employees know that they are not being abandoned or forgotten.”

“This is a time for employers to think carefully about the implications of layoffs and furloughs,” Dr. Amundson continued. “Dislocated employees will remember and carry with them the way in which they are treated during these challenging times. Others watching (workers and customers) will also take note of the way in which those who are let go are being treated.”

“Losing a job is one of the most stressful events a person can experience in life,” said Harrington. “Hope Central is a proactive, humane solution that businesses, state and community leaders, and workforce agencies can integrate into coronavirus-related furlough and reduction-in-force strategies, or dislocated worker programs, to put individuals facing difficult career transitions on the quickest path back to employment.”

For more information on Hope Central, contact hopecentral@kuder.com.