| | DECEMBER - 20229taking strong proactive steps to overcome it." The Institute's survey estimates the manufacturing sector spent $26.2 billion on training programs, both for new and existing employees. 69.9% of firms reported they were either creating or expanding internal training programs, and 84.6% reported job-related technical training.Employers are increasing their focus on assessing candidates competencies as a better way to equitably attract talent. As Cheryl Oldham, Senior Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Center for Education and Workforce says: "We need to move toward a skills-based approach for educating and hiring where the skills taught in the classroom directly align to the skills required for a career." Competency based hiring is making degrees less relevant, as Google, Apple, IBM and many others have all dropped the degree requirement for quality professional level jobs. A recent survey from the U.S. Chamber Foundation confirmed that:· There has been a lack of skilled talent among the available workforce in recent years. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of respondents agreed.· Employers and hiring managers are preparing for a world where competencies ­ not degrees ­ are the most important factors when filling a job.· Respondents (78%) acknowledged the need to overhaul their hiring practices to make this shift to focus on competencies. · Employers are working with higher education to align what is taught in the classroom with the needs of the economy. Unfortunately, US educational institutions have not kept up with their European peers in providing high quality, competency based alternative pathways to employment. US High schools still focus on their university placement as the best judge of a quality education and fail to provide quality options for students who are not a good fit for college. This is unfortunate for the 60% of students who leave the educational system by sophomore year of college and enter the workforce without the skills needed to achieve a good quality job. High tuition costs, long-term student loan debt, lack of an engaging and relevant curriculum, and difficulties finding a job in the field of their major are motivating students to look at higher ROI alternatives to college. It is time to reduce the stigma around technical training in the U.S. In most other countries around the globe, a skilled labor profession is not a second choice, but a conscious decision leading to a good job and a fulfilling life.As JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon astutely stated, "The new world of work is about skills, not necessarily degrees. Unfortunately, too many people are stuck in low-skill jobs that have no future and too many businesses cannot find the skilled workers they need. We must remove the stigma of a community college and career education, look for opportunities to upskill or reskill workers, and give those who have been left behind the chance to compete for well-paying careers today and tomorrow."There are more and more examples of higher education institutions, especially community colleges, working together with employers to build the skills students and employees need to succeed. 64% of employers say their organization has collaborated with schools to make curriculum more responsive to workforce needs. This is the only way to help universities to remain relevant. As of today, 82% of corporate executives still believe that a college degree is important or essential, and 63% express confidence in college and universities, but only 45% of the American public does.Collaboration between employers and schools around competency-based education and skills training represents the surest route to closing the education to employment gap. At New Markets Venture Partners, the oldest edtech and workforce venture capital firm in the U.S., we recently made three investments that measurably bridge the education to employment gap, i.e Pathstream, CreatorUp, and App Academy. Pathstream prepares students for high-demand non-coding digital skills careers. The Company's programs are developed with leading technology partners and delivered via OPM (online program management) relationships with 12 leading university partners. Pathstream offers five certificate programs co-branded and developed with: Facebook, Tableau, Unity, Salesforce, and Asana. CreatorUp is a digital creative platform and digital media training company that empowers learning organizations to order educational video creation and production through a highly streamlined platform. CreatorUp has as a unique differentiator their global network of talent, with more than 5,000 creative professionals worldwide registered with their talent-side platform, signing up for projects, and accessing training and upskilling. App Academy is one of the most respected coding schools in the industry, offering online and in-person training programs with the option of no tuition cost until you are hired as a Software Engineer. The mission of App Academy is to lower barriers to education and provide students with the tools and skills that result in the successful placement of 93% of its students into quality software development jobs. Companies such as these that partner with higher education and corporate hiring partners to bridge the skills gap are beginning to address the failure of our current education system to provide the majority of students with the skills that employers are looking for. Employers are increasing their focus on assessing candidates competencies as a better way to equitably attract talent
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