Opening Opportunity for Untapped Talent
By Alice & Mary Hayes , Workbay
“The challenge facing the United States today is to rebuild the links among work, opportunity, and economic security for all Americans in the face of accelerating technological change.” - U.S. Council on Foreign Relations
T he domain of people who earn below median income— together with those who support them in education, worker retraining, apprenticeships, and local economic initiatives—forms a massively valuable network crucial to everyone’s economic and social future. This network serves approximately 30 million Americans who are underemployed and unemployed, connecting them with government and community resources as well as employer HR teams. An initiative to provide a system of support for people without jobs and jobs without people emerged from Orlando Florida in 2015. This effort evolved from over a decade of experience in delivering
occupational training for Fortune 500 companies. The goal was to address the issue of frontline workers losing their credentials when moving between employers. Consequently, a platform was developed to help job-seekers attain, promote, and maintain their credentials pre-hire, during employment, and post-hire, and making these credentials available to employers and economic development agencies across communities. Hidden Workers Represent a Massive Economic Potential As an example of this network in action, a trial statewide initiative
aims to see 10,000 people who would normally be expected to earn close to minimum wage placed into employment at least $18/hour (approx. $36K/year) – a better paying job than would be normally expected. This represents a potential $100 million/year economic impact. The technology platform teaches, practices, and assesses skills, matches individuals to employment opportunities, and provides digital support through recruitment, onboarding, and retention. Partnerships with government and community resource partners, chambers of commerce, and employers – both national and local – are vital to this endeavor.
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Florida Technology Magazine – 2024 Fall Edition – 9
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