Chris Impey Massive open online classes, or MOOCs, have seen a surge in enrollments since March. Enrollment at Coursera – an online platform that offers MOOCs, has skyrocketed and was 640% higher from mid-March to mid-April than during the same period last year, growing from 1.6 to 10.3 million. The surge was driven in part by giving free catalog access for …
The in-demand jobs on the rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic
Alison Medley The COVID-19 pandemic has been brutal for Americans seeking employment. Yes, over 44.2 million Americans have filed for unemployment during the coronavirus crisis, and 1.5 million sought claims in early June, according to Fortune. But don’t despair, job seekers. The positive news for Americans is that new career opportunities have also emerged through the pandemic. According to LinkedIn Workforce Report, the new …
A Houston teacher’s nonprofit feeds students, families while supporting local food trucks
Melissa Correa HOUSTON — When KHOU 11 first shared Sarah Watson’s story, the special education teacher for Yes Prep Public Schools was just one week into her new organization. She helped to create Feeding the Frontline HTX. The caption for the organization’s very first Instagram post on March 22 included a description of its mission: What are we aiming to do? …
Scholarship in a Pandemic? A Lesson from C. S. Lewis
Brian Tabb The first time I wore a facemask and plastic gloves to our local grocery store, I was struck by the reality that things were not “normal.” In January 2020, the world first learned about a “novel coronavirus” outbreak that infected thousands of people in China. But by March, this faraway epidemic had become a worldwide pandemic that had …
WorkFaith continues Virtual Job Readiness Program
After the closure of our campuses in March, we sought out digital solutions for offering our programs. In the midst of a changing global landscape, we wanted to find ways to continue our partnerships with people as they reenter the workforce. We were able to launch our first Virtual Job Readiness classes online on May 11, and we are excited …
Success in the next normal starts with employee education and reskilling
What can businesses do to best position themselves in a digital economy post COVID-19 pandemic? Employee education and reskilling is arguably the most critical success factor in the Next Normal. Vala Afshar The first time I met Adam Rauh was earlier this year at the 2020 National Retail Federation (NRF) in New York. Adam is a lead solutions engineer at Tableau, a Salesforce company, and was at …
Round Two of Virtual Employability Training Launched May 26
When COVID-19 closed our campus in March, a priority of the WorkFaith team was figuring out new ways to serve our community online. One such way is our new 5-Day Virtual Employability Training. The first session of our Virtual Employability Training launched on May 11. We’re very excited to share that 23 graduates completed that first session! Our second Virtual …
Survey: The jobs of at least 35% of Houston workers have been impacted by COVID-19
Gabriela Sánchez-Soto Many have lost jobs and many more have seen pay and hours cut during the pandemic. Industries that have been able to transition to work-from-home have been some of the least impacted. The coronavirus (COVID-19) has upended life in most of the country, and as cities and states issue social distancing and stay-at-home orders, millions of Americans have …
WorkFaith’s COVID Response Strategy
With WorkFaith offices closing mid-March, our team quickly moved into a response strategy including calls to graduates, assistance in finding employment opportunities, and development of a virtual program. Graduate Encourager Calls (GECs) WorkFaith launched a program to support our graduates by having the entire staff make Graduate Encourager Calls (GECs). Staff members reached out to our graduates to pray with …
Reopening U.S. economy will mean creating all kinds of new jobs
Jeff Green and Steve Matthews, Bloomberg Thermal scanners in Utah and Maryland. Contact tracers in San Francisco. Decontamination technicians in Miami. Meet the people needed to keep the post-Covid-19 economy running. In the wake of a pandemic that’s put millions of Americans out of work, a new crop of jobs is emerging. Companies racing to get back to business are …
5 Real-Life Lessons in ‘Virtual Shepherding’ through Crises
Scott Ventrella – Author, Speaker As an adjunct professor with 25 years teaching experience in a “live” classroom setting, I’ve had to very quickly shift to virtual teaching; of course, I’m not alone in this. It was anything but a smooth transition. In addition to having to repurpose curriculum, I had to learn technology such as Zoom and WebX. This …
