Dive Brief:
- A recent survey reveals corporate investment in workforce training is up by more than 50%, but more than 45% of development programs do not help employees to perform better in their jobs.
- Corporations spent an estimated $400 million in workforce training in 2015; a stark contrast to the $17 million the federal government will invest in college and for-profit bootcamp training partnerships to offer credentials and work-ready skills to students.
- Federal officials say workforce development programs are the key to the nation's future economy, a contrast to the notion of bootcamps being an ideal add-on for professional credentialing.
Dive Insight:
Online learning tech company Coursera this month announced a partnership with PwC to launch a MOOC on data analysis and presentation skills. Along with U.S. Department of Education's experiment with hybrid nonprofit and corporate training modules, it is abundantly clear that industry is changing to create a new culture in which corporations will not only be responsible for hiring good talent, but potentially training talent as well.
Seemingly, colleges and universities are being pushed out of the picture on professional credentialing. But those institutions which develop their own versions of this model will be more attractive to students and companies in the near future. Bellevue College and Northeastern University are examples of this kind of forward thinking approach, and the concept of 2-for-1 degree offering is another strategy which could be amended to convince companies to pay for workers earning advanced degrees which could accentuate essential job training.