On March 20, the Detroit Regional Chamber hosted a free webinar to spotlight how employers can work with its TalentEd and Detroit Reconnect teams to develop or approve their talent development programs. Read more about engagement opportunities and watch an event recording below.
There’s nothing more important to employers than talent.
Businesses run on talent. Talent goes where the jobs are, and businesses expand where the talent is, creating a virtuous cycle of economic growth and innovation.
By 2031, 71% of jobs will require education or training beyond high school, according to the Georgetown Center for Education and Workforce.
To thrive, we must develop and expand the Detroit Region’s talent pool with a steady flow of highly skilled and educated people with post-high school credentials to fill the jobs of today and tomorrow.
In an ever-evolving and highly competitive global economy, businesses are engaged in an intense war for talent, and these companies — and our Region — cannot succeed without a highly skilled and educated workforce.
The Detroit Regional Chamber’s TalentEd is partnering with businesses to develop this educated workforce. One of our strategies is to engage traditional-aged students moving from K-12 schools into college and careers. But there’s another large, untapped talent pool that TalentEd is reaching: adult learners, including the nearly 500,000 adults in the Region with some college experience but no degree or credential. Some of these future all-star employees are in school, some are trapped in dead-end jobs, and some are sitting in your office space and warehouses with partially completed degrees and untapped potential. The Detroit Regional Chamber can help access them all.
Detroit Reconnect is a TalentEd program that supports adults aged 25 to 64 who are interested in furthering their education in collaboration with postsecondary institutions. Detroit Reconnect provides adults with free institution-neutral college and career navigation and wrap-around supports to create a personalized pathway to and through college. Detroit Reconnect supports businesses and employees through:
- A Workforce Success Toolkit with templates and resources to help companies grow or build tuition assistance programs, create more work-based learning opportunities, and foster a learning culture.
- Connecting employees to the Michigan Reconnect scholarship to attend community college tuition-free and host onsite enrollment events.
- Promoting in-demand credentials through career pathways maps that businesses leaders can use in talent development conversations with employees.
- Training staff as Reconnect Ambassadors to provide encouragement and support to coworkers interested in postsecondary education, providing onsite or virtual reconnect cafes that allow employees to meet one-on-one with a coach, and partnering with companies to promote their jobs and industry to thousands of adults looking for a new opportunity.
- Surveying employees on their education goals and barriers to develop a custom plan to improve education benefits.
- Convening sector-based partnerships and learning communities to share ideas and solve talent challenges.
Learn more about how Detroit Reconnect can support your upskilling and talent development strategies by contacting Vester Waters, Manager of Adult Degree Completion, at vwaters@detroitchamber.com and Christi Taylor, Senior Director of Employer Engagement, at ctaylor@detroitchamber.com.