Dive Brief:
- New York's Department of Small Business Services and the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline will partner with the Flatiron school to provide $1.3 million in technology education to city residents, the group announced Feb. 4.
- The partnership aims to help New York City residents break into the tech industry and achieve economic mobility, according to the announcement. The stakeholders will train 75 eligible New Yorkers in software engineering; qualified candidates are those without any prior paid experience in web development or software engineering and making less than $50,000 annually. The program also will train residents in interviewing and connect them with job opportunities.
- "The cost of living in New York City continues to rise, and with nearly half of New York City households making less than $50,000 it is pivotal that we open pathways to education, like this fellowship, to help people achieve economic mobility," said Adam Enbar, co-founder and CEO of Flatiron School, in a statement.
Dive Insight:
This most recent announcement is yet another example of the collaboration that experts say will be necessary for employers and employees to remain competitive.
Partnerships between employers, educators and local governments will play an important role in upskilling the workforce of the future, speakers at a 2019 Brookings event said. And notably, "helping low-income workers transition to new careers will be key," Marcela Escobari, senior fellow at the organization’s Center for Universal Education, told attendees. "We have a tight labor market, and we've already started to see some recuperation for people coming back into the labor force, wages moving up. So there's a pressure for companies to think differently around, how are they going to get the talent that they need, but also to deal with the social consequences of the unequal world that we have been seeing."
Employers that have taken similar steps include, among others, a Pennsylvania resort. Along with a local school and nonprofit, the employer will train locals in hospitality management and services — creating a talent pipeline while also demonstrating good corporate citizenship.
