Corporate Voices Celebrates Partner Commitments through Summer Jobs Plus

Despite sustained high unemployment, more than two-thirds of employers report difficulties filling job vacancies because applicants lack critical skills and experience.  Some innovative companies have developed strategies to help close the skills gap and build a talent pipeline to fulfill their needs and strengthen the American economy.  For several years, Corporate Voices for Working Families (Corporate Voices) has been at the forefront of this work, collaborating with companies to help them meet their talent development goals by developing enterprising employment pathway opportunities for untapped talent – a population of 6 million young adults’ ages 16-24 not connected to school or work.

Last week, at Corporate Voices’ Annual Meeting, we celebrated the commitments of 18 of our partner companies through Summer Jobs Plus.  President Obama joined with the White House Council for Community Solutions and his Department of Labor to launch the Summer Jobs Plus initiative earlier this year, and he challenged employers to commit to provide some kind of pathway to employment for these young adults in summer 2012 and beyond.

Our partners join a total of 95 organizations and companies who have responded to Presidential challenge.  The White House recently announced the commitments of 110,000 new summer jobs for a total of nearly 300,000 employment opportunities.  These opportunities include 90,000 paid jobs and thousands of mentorships, internships and other training opportunities.

We believe there is an opportunity now to ensure that these commitments are just the beginning of a transformation in the relationship between employers and “disconnected” young adults.   While 300,000 employment opportunities is a good start, we need far more employers to provide a range of opportunities including internships, job shadowing, mentoring, summer and year round employment so that young adults develop the skills and have the experiences necessary to prepare them for career path employment and business’ meet their talent development goals.

For more information on how your company can make a commitment through Summer Jobs Plus, learn more about employment pathways, and join the stellar group of companies, please contact Elyse Rosenblum at erosenblum@corporatevoices.org or visit www.dol.gov/summerjobs/.

Corporate Voices’ Summer Jobs Plus Partner Commitments:

• Baxter International Inc.
• Bank of America
• Bright Horizons Family Solutions
• CVS Caremark
• Deloitte
• Expeditors
• Gap Inc.
• Goodwill Industries International
• H-E-B Grocery Company
• Innovate+Educate/New Options NewMexico
• Johnson & Johnson
• PricewaterhouseCoopers
• JPMorgan Chase & Co
• Northrop Grumman
• Pacific Gas & Electric
• Southwire Company
• Workforce.io/New Options Baltimore
• Year Up

 

A Talent Development Solution Whose Time is Now

This post was contributed by Donna Klein, Executive Chair and CEO of Corporate Voices for Working Families.

“We’re throwing away an enormous amount of intellectual talent in our country.”  Such is the sentiment expressed by Dr. James Applegate, Vice President of the Lumina Foundation, at the Corporate Voices for Working Families annual meeting dedicated to Exploring the Challenges of the American Workplace.   Applegate was joined by Dr. Parminder Jassal, Program Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Ellen Glazerman, President of the Ernst & Young Foundation in a discussion with national business leaders looking at the Business Case for Investments in Postsecondary Education Completion.

Dr. Applegate laid out the challenge:  The nation will need 23 million more postsecondary degrees than we’re on track to produce by 2025. He said, “If we don’t begin to move the dial, the skills gap that’s causing us so much pain right now will be nothing in comparison to what we’re facing.”  This is a pain that is being keenly felt by employers across the nation.  Recently, 52% of U.S. employers report difficulty filling jobs due to the shortage of available talent. They cite lack of experience, skills, or knowledge as the primary reason for the difficult in filling positions (Manpower 2011).

At the same time, low-skilled individuals— the future talent of this nation— are locked out of jobs that offer economic sustainability.  Ellen Glazerman pointed out that education is the “greatest differentiator” in predicting a young person’s success throughout life.  “We must help first-generation and underrepresented students to understand the possibilities offered by higher education and education attainment,” she noted.

Corporate Voices’ business leaders heard that because appropriately educated and skilled talent is foundational to businesses’ ability to compete in the global marketplace, it is critical for employers to understand the contributions they can make to reach the postsecondary completion goal cited by Lumina, which aligns with the Gates Foundation focus to increase postsecondary attainment for low income 16-26 year olds.  Dr. Jassel reinforced the key point that, “Success will require active engagement from the business community to make needed changes in education.  There is a role for everyone here.”

Private and corporate foundations are playing a pivotal role in goal-setting, research, replication and implementation of programs of study aimed at dramatically boosting the number of young Americans completing a postsecondary credential in the next decade or so.  These foundation leaders, in addition to other higher education, business and political leaders, are looking to the higher education system, with a focus on America’s 1,100 community colleges, to help bridge the skills gap.  Recently, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) spotlighted both the great opportunities and serious challenges ahead for the community college sector. Reclaiming the American Dream: Community Colleges and the Nation’s Future details community college “student success rates that are unacceptably low, employment preparation that is inadequately connected to job-market needs, and disconnections in transitions between high schools, community colleges, and baccalaureate institutions.”

Clearly, community colleges and business must partner to overcome the talent crisis and create a globally competitive workforce.  Corporate Voices has been a leader in identifying and promoting innovative Learn and Earn partnerships across the country that are doing just that. As part of our Learn and Earn micro business case study series, we have has documented a range of these best practice talent development partnerships – often between businesses and community colleges.  We just released early findings from our research in developing these case studies, A Talent Development Solution: Exploring Business Drivers and Returns in Learn and Earn Partnerships, which documents the returns employers enjoy in these partnerships.  A pathway has been established.  Now, employers across this nation must join in embracing a talent development solution whose time is now.

 

Corporate Voices Applauds 2012 Best Companies for Hourly Workers

Corporate Voices is delighted by the news that four of its partner companies were honored with Working Mother Media’s Best Companies for Hourly Workers Award at the 2012 National Conference Supporting Hourly Workers on May 18.  We applaud Bon Secours Virginia Health System,  Capital One, Marriott International and Sodexo for their outstanding work, which has resulted in this honor.  Our partner companies are joined by this year’s other honorees: Best Buy, Cricket Communications, Hilton Worldwide, Pet Smart, Target, University of New Mexico Hospitals, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and Valassis Communications.

At last week’s conference, Peggy Walton, Senior Director, Workforce Readiness, facilitated a breakout working group that discussed flex solutions for education, training and development.  Highlighted in the session were two Best Companies for Hourly Workers awardees, Valassis and University of New Mexico Hospitals, both of which have best-practice programs that support education attainment and talent development.

When Corporate Voices initiated the Best Companies for Hourly Workers recognition in partnership with Working Mother Media, the goal was to highlight those companies that set the standard for best practices for hourly workers.  Clearly, these winning organizations do just that.  They offer hourly workers benefits such as health insurance and company-matching 401(k)s, as well as paid vacation and sick days, tuition assistance, flexible spending accounts and flexible work schedules.