Education as a Pathway to Employment Sustainability

The gap between talent and opportunity continues to vex employers around the nation and certainly in the State of New Jersey. Equally troubling is the fact that there are no immediate solutions to an issue that has a variety of market, educational and economic factors associated with it. An example of one of these factors is the increasing attention being placed on the relevancy of a college degree as compared to non-degreed training. An observation that is also gaining increased attention was stated by Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli in a recent article of the The Wall Street Journal.

“Companies need to stop pinning so much of the blame on our nation’s education system. They need to drop the idea of finding perfect candidates and look for people who could do the job with a bit of training and practice”.
According to Donna Well, the CEO of Mindflash, with technology and industries shifting so quickly, our economy’s open positions aren’t necessarily a perfect fit for our unemployed workers. “Rather than simply wishing that mismatch away, businesses need to embrace training to reduce it.”, noted Well.

Well also noted that business leaders may complain that training is too expensive or often doesn’t work, but the real cost of operating with unfilled vacancies is lower revenue and slower growth. By leveraging new training technologies, employers have new opportunities to make training more effective and cost-efficient than ever before.
Jerry Masin, President of SetFocus, an NJTC member headquartered in Parsippany, NJ, indicates that his organization is prepared to ride the crest of the jobs and training tsunami

Recognizing the need in the marketplace for education as a pathway to employment sustainability in the United States, Masin noted that SetFocus is now providing a significant amount of education and training material to the public at no charge via its Free Training Portal.

Mike Landau, Founder of SetFocus, further noted the value of the Free Training Portal. “Our goal is to improve the lives of Americans by offering them the opportunity of employment stability and sustainability through giving them access to key high quality training materials that will help increase their marketability and earning potential”. “As businesses continue to cut costs, the need for technology, and individuals who possess the skills to utilize it, will remain in high demand. SetFocus’ vision has been and continues to be helping bridge the gap between talent and opportunity.

The SetFocus Free Training Portal will help to stimulate the careers of non-traditional students, creating a larger pool of individuals available for growing IT needs within the country. Related to this, the IT unemployment rate, according to national polling data at the end of 2011, stands at less than half of that on all other employment sectors. Over 100 hours of the SetFocus course library is being offered in the areas of Object Oriented Concepts, Relational Database Fundamentals, Business Intelligence Tools SharePoint, Excel as well as basic computer science fundamentals. These offerings will be expanded upon in 2012. The courses will help individuals develop a working knowledge of technologies and master the core concepts and critical skills that are necessary to get and stay ahead in the IT job market.

The SetFocus Free Training Portal can be accessed at:

http://freetraining.setfocus.com

SetFocus will be actively partnering with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development through use of the Free Training Portal and other initiatives such as helping to build an education and training consortium for businesses located in Morris County. Specifically, SetFocus will be engaging the Department of Labor and Workforce Development Talent Network Program.

The goal of the Talent Networks is to connect businesses in six key industries with educational institutions, workforce development agencies, government and community groups to identify the skills and training Garden State employers require in prospective employees to remain competitive in the global market. By being trained in those skills, students and job-seekers will be able to find long-term jobs in New Jersey and help to boost the state’s economy. The Talent Networks are aligned around Transportation, Logistics and Distribution, Life Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing, Financial Services, Health Care Technology and Technology/Entrepreneurship. The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development is using $2.31 million in Workforce Investment Act funds to establish the Talent Networks. Each Talent Network is being awarded $385,000 for the first year of the grant with a possible renewal for the second year, contingent on successful performance and on the availability of funds.

About SetFocus
SetFocus is prepared to work closely with aligned business and government leaders to positively affect individual and state-wide economic viability as outcomes of learning, growth and job sustainability. All interested parties are welcome to contact Jerry Masin at (973) 947.4831 or jerry.masin@setfocus.com for further information.

SetFocus, founded in 1997, is a leading provider of career focused training for IT professionals seeking to increase their marketability and earning potential utilizing technologies such as .NET, SQL Server , Business Intelligence and Sharepoint. Utilizing strategic relationships, SetFocus identifies skills gaps and develops programs that train and source skilled professionals to meet the immediate hiring needs of organizations nationwide. A Microsoft Certified Partner for Learning Solutions, SetFocus employs a unique hands-on learning curriculum and a combination of services to help organizations grow.

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