Tag: AT&T

The Program Giving Workers Without College Degrees a Leg Up

Posted on by robbie

For Americans that have completed higher education, figuring out which skills to acquire is less of a concern when it comes to applying for a job. But for workers without a college degree, the roadmap to getting hired is a bit trickier.
That’s a narrative underscoring the growing skills gap across the country, where an estimated 4.8 million jobs were not filled in August while 9.6 million Americans remained unemployed, according to Bloomberg. As it becomes more apparent that higher education is not the only answer to unemployment — after all, 73 percent of U.S. jobs do not require a college degree — more companies are stepping up to help Americans find the necessary skills for these available jobs.
LearnUp, a skills training platform focused on entry-level positions in retail, goes as far as to pair potential hires with openings at companies including Gap Inc., AT&T, Office Depot and Staples. The two-year-old company provides training programs tailored to each job, helping applicants learn the specific skills needed to land a position.
“The average person has 15 to 16 jobs in their lifetime. You need something that keeps your skills relevant,” says co-founder Alexis Ringwald. “Our vision is to have training available for every job.”
Ringwald, who formerly launched and sold a software startup, frequented unemployment lines before starting LearnUp to get a better sense of the hardships of finding a job. The entrepreneur and co-founder Kenny Ma then launched the platform in 2012 in the San Francisco Bay area and has since expanded job postings across the country.
Since its inception, LearnUp discovered that spending one to two hours of training in one of its modules triples a worker’s chance of landing a position, Fast Company reports.

“Having a series of realistic situations is the most effective way to teach job skills,” Ringwald says.

While not every applicant receives a job offer at the end of the process, the platform does manage to actually bridge the unskilled unemployed with companies seeking out new hires. And for many, that’s time worth spending.

MORE: Teaching Low-Income Youth These Skills May Just Solve the Tech Job Hiring Gap

This Brave Group of Michigan Business Leaders Are Standing Up For LGBT Rights

Posted on by robbie

Last year was a landmark year for the gay marriage movement, and now this year, supporters are turning the tide on rights in the workplace. Some 10 major Michigan businesses are spearheading a campaign to amend the state’s civil rights act to prohibit employee discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
Currently, Michigan is one of 29 states that allows an employer to legally fire someone based on his or her sexual orientation; employee discrimination based on gender identity is also legal. But state business leaders from AT&T Michigan, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Consumers Energy, Dow Chemical Co., Google, Herman Miller, PADNOS, Steelcase, Strategic Staffing Solutions and Whirlpool Corporation are aiming to change that by forming the Michigan Competitive Workforce Coalition, according to MLive.com.
The state law outlawing employee discrimination — the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act of 1976 (ELCRA) — extends only to religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status. Business leaders like AT&T Michigan’s Jim Murray, a Republican, believe that should include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, too.
“We need to find ways in Michigan to keep and attract talent, and there are some barriers to that and this happens to be one of them,” Murray said.
Overwhelmingly, more than 75 percent of Michigan residents back the idea of adding sexual orientation to state law, which includes a majority of Republicans and small business owners, according to a recent poll. Meanwhile, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights released a report last year that found excluding LGBT protection hurts the state’s pool of talent as well as its economy. By refusing to update the law, the state loses competitive advantage in keeping some of its college graduates as well as professionals, too.
MORE: This Transgender Athlete Is Taking on Bullying, One School at a Time
While there’s no legislation on the table yet, the coalition has pledged to push lawmakers into a meaningful conversation about the amendment. Previous efforts, which include a proposed bill in the Senate in 2012 and in the House in 2009, failed to receive a floor vote. But late last year Republican Governor Rick Snyder said he’s open to to the idea.
“This is the right time to do it and the right thing to do, and I’m hoping that the Legislature can be brave enough to do it,” said Shelly Padnos, the executive vice president of coalition member PADNOS.
Padnos, who previously worked for the House of Republicans but now identifies as an Independent, points out that ELCRA was passed by a bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats who understood that equality was important to Michigan’s economic future. Hopefully, that attitude continues to resonate with the legislature today.