Ryan Golden Dive Brief: Dive Insight: Recent research shows U.S. small businesses have begun a gradual, if not limited, recovery process following the tumultuous early stages of the pandemic. Employment data from Paychex and IHS Markit recorded a dramatic decline in small business employment beginning in April when the impact of public health measures led to the firms’ Small Business Job Index dropping …
How Micro-Certification Can Fill Skill Gaps
Ulrik Juul Christensen A recent graduate enters the workforce for the first time with a basic set of skills and the ability to learn. Having a degree to get a job is only the starting point. Learning must now continue for a lifetime, with continuous upskilling. This approach is not only good for the employee, it’s also a competitive advantage …
A Fresh Approach to Narrowing the Skills Gap
Kalyan Kumar It’s fairly easy for people in small businesses to keep track of everyone’s skillset. When a project comes along, figuring out which employees can contribute and what skills should be brought in from outside the company is a fairly straightforward endeavor. But scale that scenario into an organization with tens or hundreds of thousands of employees distributed around …
Demand for technology skills training surges
Joe McKendrick Under pressure, companies ramp up technology skills training, but more is needed, especially for artificial intelligence. Those wanting to self-educate have many online options. Also, no-code to the rescue? Are we doing enough to get everyone — IT and business professional alike — geared up for the data analytics-driven economy ahead of us? No way. However, the Covid-19 …
4 ways to encourage upskilling without burning people out
Ashwin Bharath In the past 100+ days, IT leaders across the world have worked at lightning speed to scale infrastructures to meet the needs of remote workforce environments. CIOs were tasked with swiftly completing digital transformation projects that were previously projected to take years – relying on IT teams to take on new responsibilities and skills without formal training. The …
4 Ways Mentorship Opportunities Can Help Fill the Industry Skills Gap
Lindsay Gilder In the latest episode of the Thomas Industry Update Podcast, Thomas CEO and President Tony Uphoff spoke to Mary Person, the director of Governmental Relations and External Affairs for FH Paschen. At the major construction firm, Person plays a significant role in recruitment efforts for some of the best talent in the construction industry and continues to recruit the next …
Microsoft and LinkedIn partner to help 25M workers gain digital skills
Macy Bayern Microsoft introduced its new global skills initiative to provide digital skills to more than 25 million people worldwide who have been displaced by the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement was made during a Microsoft digital event on Tuesday, shedding light on the significant impact COVID-19 has had on employment, as well as introducing a new learning app to Microsoft Teams. “People are contributing in new ways in …
Expand The Talent Pipeline: Focus On Skills, Not Degrees
Christos Makridis Why do we do things that we know are problematic and are leading us towards an unsustainable outcome, especially when there’s a better solution that we all know exists? Unfortunately, a prevailing practice in the marketplace is to hire people based on pedigree, rather than skills. Our youth has been been told so many times that college is …
How Learning New Skills Can Help Make You Recession-Proof
Ed Sattar Given the magnitude of this recession, with millions of people jobless across the world, you need to differentiate yourself to survive this crisis. What can you do to find a new job in case you are laid off, or how can you switch careers and settle into a new industry to become recession-proof? Although business leaders and communities …
Walmart Expands Education Program for Associates, Aligns Live Better U Program to Future of Work with Additions of Skilled Trades and Digital Programs
Jami Lamontagne BENTONVILLE, Ark.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Even before the current economic climate, Walmart’s response to an economy going through a technology-fueled transformation with evolving consumer habits has been focused on investing in associates. Over the last few months, Walmart has committed to invest almost $1 billion in U.S. associate bonuses and today announced the expansion of Live Better U (LBU) education benefits …
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 …
Why Skilled Trades Can Lead The Jobs Recovery and Enjoy A Brighter Future – Klein Tools’ Front-line Insights
Marco Annunziata The collapse in employment levels of the last couple of months has been so devastating that our attention has been totally captured by the headline numbers: close to 40 million Americans have filed for initial unemployment claims since March 21st; the broader measure of the unemployment rate, U6, which includes people marginally attached to the labor force, has …
Guild Education partners with Walmart and other employers on reskilling program
Amanda Schiavo Guild Education, an organization that partners with employers to help offer education benefits to workers, is aiding displaced workers through a new retraining plan. Employers who enroll in its Next Chapter program can provide laid-off or furloughed workers with access to reskilling programs, as well as hands-on coaching as they navigate toward growing industries, such as tech, healthcare, …
