Giving Compass' Take:
- Authors at PhilanTopic describe how donors are funding programs that focus on skills training to prepare for equitable, long-term economic recovery that will prepare individuals for jobs when they are ready to be filled.
- How are you supporting job growth and recovery in the wake of the pandemic?
- Read more about what job recovery will look like after COVID-19.
What is Giving Compass?
We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us.
As communities across the nation continue to deal with the economic impacts of COVID-19, leaders are looking at immediate ways to keep families afloat, from extended unemployment benefits to stopping evictions. That's the right thing to do, for the individuals most affected by this crisis, and the economy.
But while we're doing that, we also need to be looking ahead.
How are we preparing people to not only ease back into work but hit the ground running with new skills that will land them better opportunities when the economy opens back up?
For long-term equitable economic recovery, we need more entry-level job training — and we need that even before those jobs are ready to be filled. We need to create opportunities for people with low incomes and people of color to access living-wage jobs in industries where career growth is possible.
In August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate was 8.4 percent, while the unemployment rate for Black Americans was 13 percent. Nearly 40 percent of Black Americans work in jobs that put them at higher risk of being laid off, furloughed, or having their hours reduced — five points higher than their white counterparts, according to McKinsey.
Now is the time to advance an approach to workforce training that integrates employers with communities — and isn't contingent on job seekers having a college degree — enabling unemployed individuals to get back to work quickly, and in jobs with a future. It's already happening; we just need to expand those programs.
In cities across the country, nonprofits and businesses have joined together to conduct entry-level workforce trainings through initiatives like CareerWork$ that help graduates, communities, and employers succeed.
Created by the Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation, the national training program connects young adults from underserved communities with employers in banking and health care.
Read the full article about economic recovery by Sherry Cromett and Renée Cardwell Hughes at PhilanTopic.