Reskilling via Digital Skill Clusters

With the shift to remote work, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for digital upskilling in the American workforce. Even prior to the pandemic, the US economy was undergoing a massive technological transformation. However, nearly one-third of all US workers lack digital skills across all industries, with workers of color being disproportionately more likely to lack digital literacy. In order to remain resilient in current and future job markets, workers need digital literacy that prepare them for diverse career pathways across sectors.  

JVS’s digital skills cluster trainings help job seekers develop foundational digital and technology skills that are applicable across sectors due to growing digitization across industries. Skills include computer and mobile device interactions, workplace productivity tools, and problem-solving using technology. Equipping job seekers with a cluster of foundational skills allows them to navigate a dynamic employment landscape and access middle-skill career pathways that lead to economic mobility.

Job seekers need digital literacy in order to remain competitive as we move into an increasingly digitalized labor market across industries and occupations. However, the US labor market is experiencing a growing digital skills gap in middle- and high-skill jobs: two-thirds of jobs created across all sectors require either high or moderate digital skills (source). Middle skill jobs are accessible for many workers as they require some postsecondary education and are projected to grow rapidly: the US economy is projected to demand 3.4M more middle-skill workers than the current labor force can provide (source). More than 80% of these jobs require some digital skills, yet 31% of workers across all industries lack digital skills (source). In particular, workers of color are disproportionately more likely to lack digital literacy. Black workers comprise 12% of overall workers but represent 15% of workers with no digital skills and Latino workers comprise 14% of overall workers but represent 35% of workers with no digital skills (source). Now and over the longer term, workers lacking foundational digital skills may struggle to access employment and advance in their careers as jobs evolve to demand greater digital fluency. 

JVS will pilot robust digital skills cluster trainings that equip job seekers with the skills, competencies, and knowledge needed to prepare them for jobs across industries and occupations. Digital skill clusters are skills that are often found together in occupations across sectors and can act as a springboard for workers to access career pathways leading to economic mobility. JVS's digital skills cluster trainings will equip job seekers with baseline digital skills including computer and mobile device interactions, self-directed learning to promote lifelong learning, workplace productivity tools, and problem-solving using technology. 

The trainings will be accessible to targeted populations facing employment barriers, including low-income workers, workers of color, and the long-term unemployed. To eliminate access barriers, all trainings will be delivered remotely and are free to job seekers. Whenever possible, JVS supports clients with technology access (including purchasing hardware/Internet).

With 45+ years of experience and guided by our data-driven approach to programming and evaluation, JVS is a nonprofit organization based in the Bay Area that possesses a successful track record of developing innovative and responsive services and partnering with diverse stakeholders, including workforce development boards, government, employers, and community-based organizations.

JVS's solution targets job seekers that face employment barriers and have been especially hard-hit by the economic fallout of the pandemic. JVS has a successful history of working with priority populations, including those facing self-sufficiency barriers such as housing instability, food insecurity, limited educational attainment, inadequate work experience, and/or limited digital literacy skills. 100% of JVS's clients are underemployed or unemployed (short-term and long-term).

In March, May, and August, JVS reached out to clients to understand their immediate needs. Clients reported changing priorities needs as the pandemic endured. When CA public benefits and protection for Covid-impacted individuals expired in August, clients were increasingly concerned about their ability to meet basic needs: 72% of respondents had housing insecurity stress; 46% were living paycheck to paycheck, and 70% didn't think they could meet their basic needs in the next three months. 

Digital skills may help workers avoid the risk of automation, promote career progression, lead to higher wages, and make workers more resilient in a changing labor market. JVS's solution can be scaled to address the urgent reskilling needs of the millions of low-wage, low-skill workers who have been disproportionately laid and do not have access to high quality remote training opportunities. 

JVS’s solution increases access to high-quality, rapid skill-building training opportunities for job seekers of all backgrounds, including the long-term and short-term unemployed, immigrants, women, and other underserved populations. Our solution moves away from the traditional sector-specific workforce development approach toward a strategy that will reskill workers for multiple career pathways across sectors and occupations. With all sectors undergoing significant digitalization, JVS's solution ensures that workers can access high-quality trainings that allow them to reskill, upskill, and remain resilient in a dynamic labor market. All trainings are free, delivered remotely, and JVS makes every effort to support clients with technology access. 

5 FT supported by JVS’s team of 86 total staff. 

JVS grounds our work in racial equity and economic mobility to ensure that our services are yielding meaningful, long-term outcomes for job seekers and staff alike. JVS is committed toward:

• Closing the wage gap disparity for workers from underrepresented communities (including Black, Latinx, and indigenous communities) by educating employer partners and providing career advancement trainings;
• Strengthening data and evaluation systems to promote more rigorous performance assessment and identify opportunities for program improvements with the ultimate goal of identifying key factors that influence long-term client economic mobility after program completion; 
• Increasing diverse perspectives, strengths, and experiences on JVS's leadership team by developing more inclusive recruitment practices that value a wide range of competencies, professional experiences, education, and training; &
• Creating diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings and workshops for staff to increase staff awareness and ability to ensure JVS programs are responsive, inclusive, and accessible to JVS's diverse client population.