In support of our Recharge & Recover PHL aspiration for our region to become the new national model to learn, apprentice, and work in the jobs of the future, the Chamber continues to lead and partner on the below efforts in order to be responsive to the talent and workforce needs of our region’s organizations.
WorkReady is a citywide career readiness initiative managed by the Philadelphia Youth Network. For over a decade, the Chamber has been an enthusiastic employer partner of this impactful program and looks forward to continuing in this role in 2022. WorkReady provides meaningful career exposure for Philadelphia youth and young adults through opportunities for awareness, skill-building, and paid work experience.
Employers can become engaged in this program by:
- Donating to the Philly Summer Jobs Fund
- Hiring an intern for a summer work experience
- Volunteering to serve on a career panel
If you’re interested in hosting a summer intern through the WorkReady program, please contact Sarah Steltz (ssteltz@chamberphl.com).
Philadelphia Skills Forward Initiative
The Philadelphia Skills Forward Initiative (Skills Forward) – a partnership with Accenture, Graduate! Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Works – seeks to provide local job seekers with the skills and opportunity for employment in high-demand sectors. Skills Forward learners have access to over 140 online and smartphone courses and can choose from multiple career pathways via the learning platform:
- Entrepreneurship
- Health Tech and Administration
- Information Technology
- Digital Literacy
Since the initiative’s inception, the Chamber has played a key role in convening partners, recruiting regional businesses and their employees to serve as instructors and mentors, and considering interviewing and potentially hiring program graduates.
To date, over 100 employers have enlisted to support this timely and important upskilling program as mentors and/or instructors, and over 1,660 learners have registered via the learning platforms, a figure that has nearly doubled over the course of 6 months.
If you are interested in engaging in Skills Forward as an instructor, mentor, or possible employer, please fill out this survey.
Industry-Specific Talent Pipeline Collaboratives
The Chamber is leading efforts to strengthen the supply of ready and available talent through our two industry-focused, employer-led talent pipeline collaboratives for life sciences and energy and infrastructure. Both forums offer meaningful opportunities for collaboration, problem-solving, and the generation of new ideas to stimulate the growth and development of a skilled and dynamic regional workforce in two key industry verticals.
Launched in the fall of 2020, the Chamber’s employer-driven Life Science Talent Pipeline Collaborative (the Collaborative) is working to proactively address our region’s life science workforce needs. Through data-driven analysis, the group of 19 organizations has identified jobs critical to the future of the industry and is working collaboratively to identify action solutions.
Most recently, the Collaborative has begun the process of updating and expanding our 2019 Cell and Gene Therapy and Connected Health Workforce Analysis. The purpose of the study is to articulate and share a regional view of the sector’s talent needs in order to drive supply and meet demand. We are once again partnering with the University City Science Center and have engaged Econsult Solutions, Inc. to execute the update with the expectation that it will be completed by spring of 2022.
In a related effort, the Chamber continues to release installments in the “Discovery Starts with Me” video series to highlight the opportunity, accessibility, livability, and affordability of our region as seen through the eyes of diverse employees working in cell and gene therapy companies based in Greater Philadelphia.
The Chamber also continues to partner on important gatherings and opportunities for job seekers in this sector, including the virtual Life Sciences and Tech Career Fair, hosted in partnership with Campus Philly on February 9th. The event allowed for the over 500 registered students to connect with more than 30 recruiters from life sciences and tech companies in the region and to attend panel discussions with young professionals working in the sector.
The Energy & Infrastructure Talent Pipeline collaborative will reconvene on February 24th to set in motion their scope of work for the coming year. At its previous gatherings, the group identified the need to increase awareness of the vast career opportunities available within the energy sector among job seekers. At the upcoming meeting, the group will evaluate a variety of tools for strategic promotion to address this priority.
If you’re interested in learning more about these talent pipeline collaboratives, please contact Sarah Steltz (ssteltz@chamberphl.com).
