Earn+Learn promotes a job-training approach where workers earn a paycheck while developing valuable skills for in-demand careers. Earn+learn programs combine on-the-job experience with targeted skill development, empowering individuals to advance their careers and earn a living wage.
Where earn and learn works now
Apprenticeship is the most well-known example of the earn-and-learn model. The construction and manufacturing industries have relied on this model for decades.
For some careers, such as pipefitting and steamfitting, it’s the most common pathway.
"I didn’t know anything about the trade before I got accepted," says Todd Clements, a steamfitter who creates piping systems for industrial processes. "With the great instructors and on-the-job training, it helped me develop the skills needed to be a great mechanic in our trade."
Clements’ six-year apprenticeship is the norm for his career. Other earn-and-learn models don’t take as long.
In manufacturing, for example, some companies partner with training academies and community colleges to train current employees.
A bridge to a good job
The changing nature of work makes it clear that most industries need to utilize earn while you learn programs to create the workforce they need.
Some partners can help create bridges to good-paying jobs.
Nonprofit job training programs such as Year Up and NPower are chipping away at one segment of the underemployed population: young, low-income adults.
“We know a lot of successful people are not college-educated,” says Kim Mitchell, vice president for program development and operations at NPower. “The programs today are important because we have a huge demand for tech talent in this country.”
These programs are proof that paid training programs work. To help more people and fill job openings, we will need more of them.
Reference: Earn and Learn: A Training Model That Works | SkillPointe
