Google’s $14 Million Investment Into Goodwill Empowers Underserved People To Gain Access To Well-Paying Jobs

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of search giant Google that offers funding, innovation and technical expertise to underserved communities, announced on Monday that it will invest $14 million in the nonprofit Goodwill Digital Career Accelerator. Together, their goal is to help people of color, under-represented groups, people from rural areas and those without high school and college degrees attain credentials that will offer entry into the workforce with good, well-paying jobs.

Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google and parent company Alphabet, and Steve Preston, Goodwill Industries International president and CEO, coauthored a blog post announcing their continued partnership that will focus on helping provide pathways for people to achieve learning, training, coaching and mentoring to obtain the needed skills in the fast-growing digital economy.

Hector Mujica, head of economic opportunity Americas at Google.org, told Forbes that this is part of a larger philanthropic endeavor, on the part of Google. Mujica is in charge of overseeing the more than $100 million grantmaking portfolio that aims to provide pathways to digital economy jobs for individuals who are confronted by multiple barriers to employment.

Succeeding Without A College Degree

Mujica said that a key part of the $100 million Google Career Certificates Fund is to help underserved people gain access to certificates, which will enable them to secure well-paying jobs that will lead to security and career growth. Its mission is to offer chances to people who don’t possess a college degree, but have the drive, motivation and enthusiasm to succeed. Many of these people possess great talents and skills, but not having a college degree stands in the way of being interviewed and they are denied access to fast-growing jobs.

The head of economic opportunity pointed out that only about 36% of American adults have four-year college degrees. This means that 70% of rural workers, almost 70% of Black workers and 80% of Latino workers aren’t even offered an interview without the piece of paper.

Goodwill, The Powerhouse Of Placing Underserved People

For 120 years, Goodwill has been a workforce provider, helping people empower themselves with the skills and job support services they need to thrive. Goodwill, among other philanthropic endeavors, helps individuals and communities build brighter futures through the power of work. Its reach is substantial, as more than 70% of the U.S. population lives within a 20-mile radius of a Goodwill mission services location.

In this new tech-driven economy, Preston and Goodwill are focused on teaching digital skills, so that people can find good jobs and develop long-term careers. There is an ever-growing digital-skills gap. It’s a grave concern, but there are also opportunities to improve the imbalance between the needs of companies and available talent. With businesses around the world rapidly transitioning to digital-first models, the demand for employees with the requisite digital skills has soared and there is a dire need for global investment to close the digital skills gap.

For example, Salesforce, the global cloud-based software company, recently published its Global Digital Skills Index, which reveals a growing global digital-skills crisis and the urgent need for action. The study shows that more than ever, businesses must work closely with governments and community stakeholders to ensure that training scales up to match digital demand and accelerate recovery and growth.

To both help the needs of businesses and for people to learn marketable skills, Goodwill offers digital training to help job seekers build skills from basic to advanced levels. The organization provides support ranging from basic introductory computer literacy skills to coding. The goal is to offer the training and personal hand-holding help to empower a person to find a digital job. To achieve this ambitious goal, Goodwill has partnered with high-profile progressive corporations.

A person who goes through the program can earn certificates from Google, which shows that when seeking out a new job, they have the appropriate training and background. These accreditations include Google IT Support Professional certificate, CompTIA certifications, GSuite certificates and more. The program requires a commitment and determination made by the trainee.

Goodwill serves a diverse population. Over 80% of the people have a high-school degree or less. There is a real chance for this cohort to move forward in life with the benefit of the right kind of skills training and support.

Many of the people served are going through transitions—some who have lost their jobs and veterans who have left the service. There are also those who have specific challenges. For instance, about 50,000 people who self-identified as having been incarcerated were involved with the program. There are also a large number of people who have disabilities, experiencing poverty and homelessness. Nearly 60% self-identify as people of color.

Hiring For Skills

The business community has been set on requiring college degrees as an entry point to many well-paying, white-collar jobs. For those who lack formal education, they are shut out of a significant part of the job market. Oftentimes, these folks possess valuable skills, but are overlooked.

Google and Goodwill are on a mission to help companies across all industries to socialize to the fact that non-degreed people deserve a chance to be seen, heard and invited to interviews. The partnership champions teaching business leaders to hire people for their relevant skills, as opposed to solely relying upon a college degree. With a fierce war for talent, along with 11 million jobs available, and months where 4 million or more Americans are quitting their jobs, it is highly rational for corporate executives to become more open-minded when it comes to attracting top talent. Embracing people with skills and ambition, the pool of candidates significantly increases and offers a steady pipeline of applicants to fill much-needed vacancies. It is also a great way for companies to cultivate a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Without being open-minded, it will hinder innovation and growth for companies. There is an enormous skills gap that will only grow, as technology keeps evolving. If action isn’t taken now, many Americans, particularly those of under-represented groups, will be left behind the digital divide.

The World Economic Forum estimates that up to 50% of workers will need to add new skills, including data analysts, customer success associates, coders, helpdesk and IT support, web developers, talent acquisition, social media and project managers. Offering opportunities to people without degrees will provide much-needed workers and help them keep up with the future of work.

The Google And Goodwill Partnership

The relationship between Google and Goodwill dates back to 2017. Google’s large-scale support includes an investment of $7 million in grants and $7 million in donated search ads. The program will help Goodwill reach more than 200,000 people across the U.S. and Canada, and provide them with the needed digital skills and career training to gain access to economic mobility.

The funds support infrastructure development and expansion, like tracking systems for hiring and training, that will improve the reach and effectiveness of Goodwill’s services at the local level.

Through the Google.org Fellowship, 10 Google employees are working full-time—pro bono—to bolster Goodwill’s reach online, so job seekers can connect with local Goodwill career coaches and work toward brighter futures.

With support from Google.org, Goodwill has assisted more than a million people in gaining digital awareness and skills. They have placed more than 300,000 job seekers in digital economy jobs.

Helping In Other Ways

For working people who also need to attend to childcare and other matters, there are challenges. There are dozens of reasons why people might drop out of a learning program or not sign up in the first place. To help with the travails of everyday life that get in the way of pursuing a new career, living stipends, connectivity support, transportation credits, career navigators and other resources make it possible for people to participate in and complete training so that they can earn career certificates.

A wonderful success story can be found with Kara Isreal Gooch. As a single mother of three children, Gooch wanted to change her life for the betterment of her family and enrolled in a Goodwill program. With a lot of hard work, dedication and drive, she attained a Google Career Certificate, graduated from the program and secured a job at Accenture.

Private, Public And Nonprofit Partnerships

About 70,000 Americans have embarked upon programs and completed certificates. These certificates, recognized by around 150 companies— ranging from Walmart to Smucker’s Jam—prepare people for high-paying, high-growth jobs in fields like data analytics, IT support, project management and user experience design. An astounding 75% of graduates self-report seeing a positive impact on their career within six months. This includes getting a raise where they currently work or finding a new job due to their education through Goodwill and Google.

Social Finance, a national impact finance and advisory nonprofit, will provide funding to partners, who in turn will provide career coaching, living stipends and job placement support services. Students will be connected to an employer consortium of more than 150 companies that are looking to hire workers with these skills.

It’s not just a handout. The self-sustaining business model is designed around student success. Students will receive all of the necessary support to pursue the accreditations without having to bear any upfront costs. All that is asked of them is to work hard, and once they secure a job that pays at least $40,000, they’ll be asked to pay back the expenditures over a certain period of time. This ensures that they have “skin in the game” and are incentivized to study hard and succeed. The payback ensures that there will be continual funds to further grow the program, as Social Finance will then redistribute those repayments to future learners.

This model is built on the nexus of private companies and nonprofits working harmoniously together to help a large segment of the population achieve the American dream of building a better and more financially secure life for themselves and their families.