Building Skills for the New World of Work
The need for workforce development programs that emphasize computing skills has never been greater.
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| Susan O’Connor, Director, Timothy Smith Network |
They are smart, dependable, experienced — yet thousands of older adults in the Boston area are struggling to enter the job market or advance their careers because they lack something that today’s employers increasingly require: information and communications technology skills.
With the current economy in turmoil and more people competing for fewer jobs, the need for workforce development programs that emphasize computing knowledge and business skills has never been greater. Since 1997, the nonprofit Timothy Smith Network (TSN) and its member organizations that serve residents of Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood have responded by providing free or low-cost technology training and access at 34 computer learning centers in the community. A number of these offerings focus on training older workers who have been chronically unemployed or whose only work experience has been in jobs that did not involve using computers.
At the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, for example, the Mature Worker Program (MWP) teaches PC skills to men and women age 55 and older who are living at or below poverty level and have struggled to find jobs. They start with the basics — how to operate a mouse, navigate the Web, send e-mail — and then move on to using Microsoft Office software applications such as Excel and Word, which are widely used in many workplaces today. During the 2007-08 program year, one third of the nearly 150 MWP participants found work as a result of their training at an average starting wage of about $12.50 per hour, and most of the others have remained in the program to continue building their skills.
Nonprofit workforce training providers like the Urban League and others in the Boston community rely on support from the business community to sustain their programs, especially during tough economic times. Since 2004, Microsoft has provided more than $2.3 million in software and cash to help the Timothy Smith Network expand its technology programs and services to reach nearly 3,000 people each month. Last summer, more than 130 employees in Microsoft’s Boston office volunteered at several TSN centers for a day — tutoring young students, sorting donated items, painting and lending other much-needed assistance.
TSN’s business partners like Microsoft recognize that supporting workforce development in the community is a wise investment. These programs cultivate a pipeline of workers with the necessary IT skills required by employers across a range of industries, which in turn strengthens local economies. The network’s member organizations also help clients deal with other socioeconomic issues — such as housing, substance abuse, childcare and education — so they are better equipped to succeed in the workplace and beyond.
The gains in business productivity, employment opportunity and local economic growth that accrue from these programs make Boston a stronger community.
