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Workers without a four-year degree are increasingly getting a chance at better job opportunities. The nonprofit SkillUp Coalition has announced the launch of a a career platform for talent without a degree March 7, which aims to connect workers with training and “high-opportunity jobs.”
SkillUp said it will work to bridge the gap between HR professionals and diverse talent by making the platform attractive to workers. Along with “social capital training” and other forms of L&D, the platform includes milestones to “increase motivation and confidence” among users.
“We’re also excited to learn—through data and deep user insights—what’s working and what’s not in terms of their ability to deliver quality jobs,” CEO Steve Lee said in a press release.
SkillUp started in July 2020 as a means to connect talent displaced by the onset of COVID-19 with jobs, HR Dive previously reported. Positive growth in upskilling has remained strong since then, including from a range of stakeholders.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has set a goal to address the talent shortage by the summer of 2021 America works, a multi-pronged initiative that included federal investment in job training. It also passed the Senate United States Innovation and Competition Act that summer; the next year, the US House of Representatives passed an omnibus bill, the America Competes Act, to allocate Pell grants for retraining programs. A combined version of the legislation eventually became law in 2022.
On March 9, President Joe Biden’s administration released its FY2024 budget proposal, allocating federal dollars to revolutionize career readiness from the ground up. Free community college and tuition assistance for historically black colleges or universities, tribally controlled colleges or universities, and minority-serving institutions are on the agenda.
In the request, Biden seeks to invest in women, people of color and people in rural areas through “evidence-based training models.” In addition, part of Biden’s FY2024 vision is industry training, which often includes workers without a degree.
