Welcome to Wisconsin

Recent transplants discuss their experiences during Talent Recruitment Summit

For Gaby Cabrera, a southern California native and assistant product manager at Milwaukee Tool, there was one standout fear in moving to southeastern Wisconsin.

“For me, one of my biggest struggles, and one of the things I was most scared of when I first moved was the winters,” she said.

Beyond your standard post-shoveling muscle aches and becoming acclimated to driving in the conditions, she confessed “winters here are not that bad.”

Cabrera joined Ayrton Bryan, a sustainability project manager for Rockwell; and Danielle Frees, an assistant designer for Jockey International, during the panel discussion “Milwaukee Ambassadors: What Transplants Say About the Cream City” during last week’s Talent Recruitment Summit, hosted by MMAC and VISIT Milwaukee.

The trio talked at length about the things they like about Milwaukee, tips they would provide employers in helping transplants transition and the challenges they endured.

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Building welcoming communities within organizations is vital for those new to the job, especially employees who’ve relocated, said Frees. She said Jockey has started a young professionals group to provide a climate of collegiality.

“It’s nice to have people who are in the same place as you, or even a little ahead, to help out with that transition,” she said. “That’s been something that’s been really helpful and a true value added to the company.”

Making their way to Milwaukee during the era of COVID and remote work has thrown another wrinkle into the acclimation process. For Bryan, he said it’s actually been beneficial.

“In a weird sense, for me, it helped,” he said. “… Because people were meeting virtually, it sort of evened the playing field.”

Bryan added that the flexibility introduced through remote work and other policies during the COVID era has helped transplants maintain their relationships with friends and loved ones.

“We do all have people we want to see in other states, other countries, other places. That’s part of what the transplant experience is,” he said.

The Talent Recruitment Summit was attended by nearly 100 human resources and recruiting professionals in the Milwaukee area. MMAC will be hosting a Recruiter’s Roundtable on 8:30-10:30 a.m. Dec. 6 titled "The Future of Recruitment: Exploring the Trends and Projections for Talent Acquisition in 2024." The event is open to talent acquisition professionals, DEI-focused recruiters and relocation specialists. Register here.