Each month, the Social Good Blog highlights news and resources on a specific topic. In August, we are exploring how collaboration between community colleges and businesses can help facilitate the advancement of America’s workforce through ‘upskilling’.
One particularly useful tool used to identify where in-demand training opportunities exist throughout the U.S. is the TAACCCT (Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training) map produced from The White House’s Ready to Work initiative. The TAACCCT program came about when the Obama Administration awarded community college around the country $450 million in grants. Participating sectors include: manufacturing, healthcare, information technology, energy, transportation and logistics, and agriculture. Scroll down the page to find your local programs.
The National Center for College and Career Transitions makes the case for building talent pipelines early with students in the form of apprenticeships. In this situation the focus is on opportunities within the construction field, but professionals and education practitioners alike can apply the information presented here to prepare students in any industry.
In 2009 with support from Lumina Foundation, Goodwill Industries International (GII) and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) launched Community College Career Collaboration (C4), an initiative capitalizing on the alignment of the organizations’ missions to advance credentials and employment success for populations with low incomes that were underserved. This document demonstrates the defining characteristics of each approach to facilitate cross-model comparison and discusses some of the primary factors and conditions that have resulted in each distinct design. Meanwhile, the Aspen Institute provides additional reports and best practices for education institutions and nonprofits searching to support low-income adults through varied sector initiatives.
Last week’s social good column discussed how the manufacturing industry has positively contributed to the economy in addition to the need to prepare students for positions that require higher levels of training. Earlier this summer, PwC dove into how tech-savvy job seekers are disrupting the current workforce in this particular sector.
Finally, the Wall Street Journal takes a look at how Wal-Mart is shifting priorities to train entry-level workers for upward mobility. The piece discusses how and why upskilling is becoming a trend among top companies in the retail and service industries.
