Veterans and their spouses have the right skills.

On this Veteran’s Day, our thoughts turn to those who have served and are serving our nation in the military. There is often talk of sacrifice and service, but most of our population has very little understanding of what our Veterans have done or the commitment they’ve made.

In fact, only about 7% of the total U.S. population, or about 22 million people, have served or are serving in the military. When you consider that nearly two-thirds of these Veterans served prior to the Gulf wars, then it’s not surprising that most people in the workplace have very little opportunity to interact with someone who may have served and have any understanding of how much value a Veteran can bring to their organization.

At SkillSmart, we are honored to be supporting the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation in implementing the Military Corps Career Connect (C3) program to assist transitioning military, military spouses and Veterans in finding employment opportunities in their community.

We know that those serving and supporting our military acquire numerous skills during their duties each day, but don’t know how those skills correlate to civilian jobs. Using our technology, we can help employers better communicate the skills they’re seeking and help Veterans better see how the skills they’ve gained in the military can land them a good job.

We hope that our contribution can help improve the lives of some of those who have chosen to defend ours.

More and more people are trying to better understand the future of work and why the U.S. has more open jobs – more than 6 million – than at any time in our history. In September, former VP Joe Biden hosted an event Choosing a Future of Quality Jobs, in order to discuss the opportunities and challenges posed by transformations in the U.S. economy and how quality jobs can be created to support a growing middle class.

At this event, Jim Murren, the Chairman of MGM Resorts International, discussed the hiring efforts that his firm undertook at MGM Resorts National Harbor. SkillSmart was honored to partner with MGM Resorts National Harbor to help the company focus on local hiring, reach out to vocational schools and local community colleges, and deliver a system that could quickly identify skilled talent and match them to the right positions. Applicants for a variety of jobs at the property could go online and identify the kinds of job that interested them, as well as their skills.

“They could immediately find the gaps that they have, certifications they need to get, training they needed to be provided, and we helped them get that,” Murren said. “Companies that say they can’t find qualified workers, they’re not trying hard enough.”

It’s great that these efforts and the SkillSmart platform were highlighted in such a significant forum, and as more and more organizations are recognizing that they can take a new approach to building a skilled workforce and increase economic opportunity for both employees and themselves. We’re committed to this goal and to helping people and organizations make it a reality.

Why is it that each day we see a story about a company that can’t find workers, communities without jobs, and graduates not finding work?

It’s not that we don’t have jobs. 
We have 6.2 million unfilled jobs in the U.S., more than at any time in our history.

It’s not that we don’t have training. 
We have more capacity and more students enrolled in our community colleges, training programs and universities than at any point in history.

It’s not that we don’t have good people willing to work.
We have more high school graduates, vocational school and community college graduates, and university graduates than any time in our history. We have thousands of experienced, underemployed Veterans transitioning from the military.

All the same, more people are struggling to find good jobs than at any time in our history – and this is a problem that we can tackle right now in every community in the U.S. Let’s start with what’s broken and then address how to fix it.

First, job boards don’t work. Simply matching job descriptions to resumes does not lead to good outcomes and job descriptions don’t do a good job of telling an applicant what they need to do to be successful. Ask any employer, all you get is a time-wasting list of unqualified candidates to sort through.

Second, when an individual is not well qualified for a job, there is no clear path of how to get there.

Third, just because a course is offered at a local college doesn’t mean that it will help you get a job.

Finally, most people, employers, or schools don’t want to do anything differently, even thought the current process doesn’t work.

Let’s resolve this Labor Day to fix this mess. Here’s what to do:

First, employers must identify the skills they need and use this in their job postings – not just entry-level.  This will make it clearer within their organization and to applicants what they must do to be successful.

Second, job seekers must use the specific experiences they’ve had in their life (school, work, volunteer, etc.) to demonstrate how they can do the skills the employer is seeking.

Third, local colleges and training programs must look at the skills the employers are seeking to ensure their courses provide students with what they need to get hired.

These three simple steps will help align the interests of the three key stakeholders in a community – employers, job seekers, and educators – and train better employees, improve education outcomes and make stronger employers.

In the words of Home Depot – Let’s Do This… and we can help.

Over the past weeks, we have seen Made in America Week, Infrastructure Week, and the Democrats’ Deal for the American Worker. There seems to be agreement that many Americans are trapped in jobs that don’t pay desirable wages while other, higher-earning jobs remain unfilled and that developing skills and training for jobs for the future is critically important. But the “how” is just as important.

As companies continue to invest in America, we still are seeing a shortage of skilled workers – and this holds everyone back, no matter which side of the aisle you’re on.

We at SkillSmart are focused on the “how.” How do employers more effectively identify the skilled workers they need? How do job seekers better convey that they have skills and that they are more than just a resume? How do we develop education programs that deliver in-demand skills?

Watch the recent TEDx talk to hear more.

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We are excited to see the emergence of a national conversation on the importance of using skills to build the workforce, improve hiring outcomes, and increase opportunities for success. In the past few months we have seen a focus on rebuilding America’s infrastructure, products Made In America, and helping workers rebuild their skills to increase opportunities for success in the workplace.

There have also been recent efforts on behalf of some foundations to direct tens of millions of dollars to see if philanthropy can build a system to create a stronger workforce.

In just two years, the SkillSmart platform has been used by more than 20,000 job seekers, to assist more than 30 employers to hire more than 1,000 people for jobs paying between $35,000 and $80,000 annually. 

By using a skills-based model for hiring, SkillSmart increases transparency in the hiring process, improves hiring outcomes for job seekers and increases employee retention. We have demonstrated that a skills-based focus on hiring is not just a good idea, it’s good business.

We have real data from working with employers and communities to focus on skills to build stronger workers, increase job retention, and improve efficiency in hiring. Most important, we’ve found this can be done with a scalable technology solution with the market paying for these outcomes and without relying on philanthropic dollars.

Skills-based hiring is not a charitable activity; it’s a real-world, market-based solution to close the skills gap and grow our economy. And we’re supporting the movement by continuing to identify new clients, in new communities, and new industries.

The President has been highlighting infrastructure and workforce development this week, which is exactly what we’ve been working on at SkillSmart for the past two years. For us this is not a theoretical exercise – we’re working with partners to construct real projects, hire real people and grow local economies. I wanted to share some observations from the communities in which we’ve been working.

Earlier this week, I listened from the back of a Detroit community room as city representatives and local developers gave updates to citizens on local projects. Wherever we travel, we try to find ways to connect with the local community, and I was fortunate to get word of this briefing where citizens heard updates on development projects, asked questions, and voiced concerns. Most of the meeting consisted of general city updates and questions about noise, cost, access, and benefits; but, the drama of one exchange made me perk up and put down my plate of chicken schwarma.

First, a bit of background, Detroit developers that engage in projects beyond a certain contract threshold are required to hire 51% of their workforce from Detroit. If they fail to meet this requirement they are assessed a substantial penalty. Well, one citizen didn’t think that the fact that developers were simply paying a penalty was sufficient.

She stood to voice her frustration that the developers that weren’t meeting the 51% requirement weren’t fulfilling their responsibility. Immediately, the developer’s representative responded that building the workforce wasn’t their responsibility. The exchange escalated from there – as the citizen couldn’t believe that the developer didn’t think it their responsibility to hire locally, particularly given the requirement.

To conclude the heated exchange, the developer clarified, that it was their responsibility to hire Detroiters, it just wasn’t their responsibility to ensure Detroiters had the skills to get hired.

The developer – and the citizen – was right. And wrong.

This conversation is representative of hundreds of conversations that are taking place all across America.

There is a lot of talk about the job market, and recently much more talk about infrastructure, but there is far too little conversation regarding the workforce and how to ensure workers actually have the right skills to be qualified today and successful tomorrow.

Late last year I gave a TEDx talk that put a spotlight on our broken talent development system. I argued that it’s broken because everyone points the finger at someone else.

Businesses, for the large part, expect the education system to deliver them a well-trained individual who’s able to step right into the job without any training or assistance from industry. You will be hard pressed to find a traditional four-year institution that considers preparing students for work as part of its mission. Somehow, the fact that 85% of students say that they went to college to get a job has been overlooked by our traditional four-year schools. We also face the dilemma of our society’s unfounded negative stigmas toward other, more blue-collar pathways such as community college, vocational training, and technical schools – even if they lead to good paying jobs.

And, we can’t overlook those job seekers who simply want to know where to get better information about what jobs require, how well qualified they are for those jobs, and where they can go if they need additional skills to be qualified. The current system is a black box that leaves everyone blaming others – just like what happened at the Detroit community meeting.

The only way this problem will actually be addressed is for all stakeholders to recognize the seriousness of the situation and their role in solving it. Simply, employers are the final consumers of the workforce, and must provide clarity around which skills and experiences are valued for a particular position.

Imagine how much more effective the job application process would if a person could see exactly which skills and experiences were necessary. Both the employer and job seeker could focus on the formal and informal experiences that demonstrate the qualifications for the position.

This would move the system away from the many substitutes used now like labels and assumptions from previously held jobs or schools attended – which are often not relevant to the job at hand.

The developer wasn’t wrong in saying that it wasn’t solely their responsibility to develop the local workforce. Nor was the citizen wrong to expect business to play a role in developing the workforce. We must recognize that it’s everyone’s responsibility and we all have a stake.

At SkillSmart, we’re implementing solutions to help the stakeholders work together to ensure local communities have the tools to thrive economically. In Springfield, Massachusetts we’re working with MGM Resorts to connect with local government, community colleges and businesses to skill-up and hire 3500 employees for a new hotel and casino. In Wisconsin, our work with the Milwaukee Bucks has started a broader conversation around how capital projects can stimulate workforce development activities and how a city can do more to align workforce development initiatives. In Washington DC, we’re helping the general contractor of the nation’s largest transit project communicate their hiring needs to the community, link job seekers to local training, and build a pipeline of qualified local employees.

Though the dynamics of every city are different, in everywhere we travel it is common to hear “at the end of the day it’s all about jobs.” We would argue, at the end of the day, it’s all about workforce. And if we are serious about making sure locals have the skills demanded by industry, building the on ramps to opportunity, and truly creating access, then the business, education, and social sector must realize the important role each must play in preparing the workforce of tomorrow today.

Increasing manufacturing jobs will create significant economic benefits for communities across the U.S. There will be more positions available at good wages, addressing America’s issue with an over-saturation of low paying jobs, as well as addressing unemployment in both rural areas and smaller cities. However, industry experts also tell the story of the challenges ahead before we can reap the benefits of manufacturing growth.

The “Baby Boomers” have done well, building economic growth and sustainable careers in many middle skill, middle class jobs like manufacturing. This generation worked and benefited from the most prosperous era in American history, and now they are retiring from the workforce in huge numbers as more and more reach retirement age every day.

This trend is having a dramatic impact on America’s skilled labor pool because there is no one there to replace them.

The impact is even more dramatic in the manufacturing sector because these once-coveted jobs are now viewed more negatively by younger generations, despite significant opportunity for career growth and strong wages. Manufacturing jobs are often misunderstood and seen as “dirty” and “dead-end” positions, and not as great career opportunities requiring an array of technical skills.

Additionally, “Millennials” often look at college as the most logical – if not the only – road to financial stability with little regard for these more “traditional” career pathways. As a result manufacturers are struggling to fill the positions they currently have without even considering additional jobs from increased growth.

Statistics paint a gloomy picture of the generational impact on the manufacturing sector, and the resulting widening of the skills gap. Cisco Senior Business Development Manager of North America Steve Gansen recently presented troubling numbers about the workforce of the manufacturing industry.

According to Gansen, one third of current manufacturing workers are over the age of 50, and more distressing is the fact that the average age of highly skilled employees is 56. With the average retirement age for manufacturers staying at 65, there is a significant shortage of individuals available to fill these existing positions within the next decade, which doesn’t even take the challenge of newly created jobs into account at all.

In fact, Gansen’s research led him to project that by the year 2020 America could be facing a deficit of 875,000 highly skilled manufacturing professionals. Gansen’s projections suggest that the aging workforce will create a widening skills gap that will cause over 2 million vacant manufacturing positions without a skilled workforce to fill it.

Increasing manufacturing jobs is certainly positive, as it will help modernize this nation’s infrastructure as well as create significant economic opportunity. However, the data suggest that the results may not be that straightforward.

Within the next decade approximately 2.7 million “Baby Boomers” will retire, thereby ensuring that millions of positions will already be available without a ready supply of workers to fill them.

According to a report by Deloitte, 82% of US executives believe the upcoming skills gap will impact their implementation of new technologies and increase productivity in their manufacturing operations. Therefore, we must not only focus on bringing manufacturing jobs back to America, but also pay equal attention to bringing manufacturing skills back to America.

This is where companies like SkillSmart can take an active role in shaping the future. SkillSmart’s role not only as a skills-matching company, but one which helps job seekers acquire the skills necessary to achieve success, can be integral in helping address this emerging reality.

SkillSmart’s community-based commitment provides a strong foundation to help organizations in the process of solving a local skills deficiency. For example, SkillSmart recently helped MGM National Harbor develop their talent pipeline for their new resort. SkillSmart’s relationship with MGM not only helped MGM create a pipeline of highly skilled employees, but it helped Prince George’s Community College refine a modern noncredit curriculum which was highly attractive to individuals who were seeking employment.

This same strategy is at work in SkillSmart’s other client relationships, including with an NBA franchise in the process of building a new stadium that has had a positive influence on other aspects of a local community. SkillSmart has helped inform the local community around the skills required to obtain a construction job for the project.

SkillSmart is also helping educate prospective employees around additional requirements or certifications, such as union membership, so that these individuals have the skills to contribute with this employer on this project, and with other employers and projects in the future.

We are proud to have a product that can help solve the skills gap, and SkillSmart makes a commitment to every community in which we work to use services and technology to help increase economic opportunity for residents and employers alike.

The data has shown that there will be at least 2.7 million positions available within the manufacturing field in the next decade, and we look forward to working with the manufacturing industry to help build the skilled workforce that can that can fill all of those positions… and more!

At the end of February, President Trump sat down with the CEO’s of several Fortune 500 companies. After this meeting, Trump stated that these leaders have committed to helping the President bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States. This promise to bring manufacturing jobs back to America is nothing new for Trump; in fact some might argue that Trump won the election on this campaign promise.

However, whether or not the President does his best to follow through on this promise of “25 million new positions” there are other factors that may dictate if his goal is achievable. Recently, Bloomberg’s Andre Tartar tried to articulate this message within his article Factory Skills Gap Could Spell Trouble for Trump’s Jobs Plan. While the President’s intention may well be to help establish a strong manufacturing industry, there may not be the talent available to bring back this industry.

In order to understand the difficulties in revitalizing the manufacturing industry one must understand, and acknowledge the “skills gap” currently within America. Bloomberg partnered with Randstad Sourceright to conduct a research project surveying over 400 global HR executives to analyze their struggles of creating and filling positions, and how they believe this information may project forward.

While 41% of these executives believe that they will be hiring new staff members this calendar year, these executives foresee it being difficult to continue at this hiring rate because of the lack of prospective employees with the skills necessary to perform the tasks needed to work within their respective companies. Within the survey, HR executives ranked “talent scarcity” as having a greater concern within future business than “robotics, freelancers, automation, and foreign talent.” About 80% of these employers stated that they foresee a shortage of sufficiently skilled workers will affect their company’s success in the next 12 months. These statistics bring us back to the difficulty of creating millions of infrastructure jobs within the next four years.

While creating jobs can be rather difficult, the data seems to indicate that filling jobs may be a more difficult task than creating jobs.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released information that mirrored this sentiment when they showed that there were 324,000 manufacturing job openings this past November, which is almost an 100,000 opening increase from the previous November.

This data is rather troubling because it seems to indicate that the gap between the number of individuals who have the skilled required of these jobs and the demand for those skills is increasing, so one must wonder what can we do to help bridge the skills gap to create a more sustainable workforce. This is precisely what we at SkillSmart are working to address, our goal is to build a pipeline of skilled workers.

The greater Washington DC region, like many other regions throughout the country, has many positions that remain unfilled. A case study for this issue was our partnership with MGM National Harbor. Being one of the first casino resorts in the capital region, MGM recognized the challenge of building a strong workforce to fill the 4000 positions they were seeking to hire. Adding to this challenge was the condition that MGM was to hire a certain quota of individuals from within the county.

SkillSmart partnered with MGM to build a local workforce pipeline by deploying its skills-matching platform to more clearly articulate the skills MGM was seeking to hire and to then effectively connect job seekers with local education resources linked to providing those specific skills through partnership with local education providers, like community colleges. This built a more skilled applicant pool resulting in more successful hiring outcomes and higher rates of retention while providing a clear path for local job seekers to acquire the skills needed to become successful employees of MGM.

SkillSmart is proud to be part of the effort to help solve the skills gap within the Washington DC region as well as the other communities in which we work. This same approach can address the skills gap to grow the workforce and help fill the 25 million infrastructure and manufacturing jobs. Creating the jobs alone is not sufficient. An equal focus needs to be placed on providing local job seekers in communities across the nation with a transparent mechanism to acquire the skills that the manufacturers are looking to hire. Only through this approach will businesses and local economies grow.

Businesses, communities and people are excited by the potential opportunities that an increased focus on infrastructure and manufacturing will have on local communities and across the nation.

At first glance a renewed focus on these areas is great news, and then articles and research start to appear like this recent Bloomberg Markets report that “Four-fifths of executives surveyed said that a shortage of sufficiently skilled workers will affect their companies in the next 12 months.” Which is followed up by “Complaints of hard-to-fill factory jobs are backed up by Bureau of Labor Statistics data: 324,000 manufacturing spots were open in November, up from 238,000 a year earlier.”

So what will keep us from actually increasing manufacturing and constructing new infrastructure? The lack of skilled workers.

Fortunately, this is a solvable problem.  SkillSmart’s focus on skills development and skills based hiring helps directly address this issue with a scalable solution.  We work with employers to identify the skills they need which helps job seekers better understand the skills they need to be qualified or considered for hiring.  Then, we show them where they acquire these skills through local education and training resources.

In fact, we have seen a more than 2 to 1 increase in successful hiring outcomes with our clients who use the SkillSmart platform and a 21% increase in the rate of retention.

The impact of skills in the workplace is real and can have both positive and negative results.  Lack of skills can hinder success, but we have shown that skills based hiring achieves real, sustainable and positive outcomes to help construction, manufacturing and other important industry sectors grow.  This focus on skills is critical to driving the desired growth in our economy, communities and people.

Our talent development process is outdated. We are putting students into programs that have little to no connectivity to the world of work and job seekers are using a 500 year old resume.

SkillSmart co-founder Jason Green talks through how we can decipher real skills and put them to work in his recent TEDx Talk for TEDxTysons.