The Penn Foster Blog

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of attending YouthBuild's 40th Anniversary Celebration & Gala in New York City. The event brought together YouthBuild leaders, program graduates, ardent supporters, and partners like Penn Foster to celebrate YouthBuild's rich history and bright future.

Employers challenged by the skills gap are turning to staffing firms to find qualified employes. Yet staffing companies are not immune to the skills gap. Just like employers, staffing companies are struggling to recruit and retain skilled talent.  To continue serving their clients, staffing companies need to go beyond placement and start upskilling and training employees for high-demand roles. This strategy will allow staffing companies to do more than overcome the skills gap, it will allow them to thrive in a whole new way.

Penn Foster is thrilled to be participating in this year's American Staffing Association Staffing World Conference next week (October 16-18) at the Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, MD. As the largest staffing and recruiting conference in the US, Staffing World welcomes over one thousand attendees annually. As we near this year's event, we are looking forward to having the opportunity to meet with so many leaders and discuss the key trends and challenges in the staffing, recruiting, and workforce solutions industry. 

A dishwasher that won't clean, a refrigerator that won't cool, and an oven that won't heat. All of these things have something in common: they require the skills and assistance of an Appliance Repair Technician. And unfortunately, these aren't isolated moments; at some point, nearly every home appliance will need the technical expertise and assistance of a repair technician to work effectively.

The Business of Empowerment

Whether you're in hospitality or healthcare, these days, every company is a tech company. No business can run without technical professionals to keep the computers in good working order. Trained computer support technicians and PC repair technicians are valuable, and hard to keep.  

There is a growing movement in today's tight labor market with the resurgence of apprenticeships. A proven practice to prepare individuals for a career in a middle-skilled trade, apprenticeships are coming to the forefront of the job market as an alternative to expensive and time-consuming degrees.

You've heard of the skills gap. Well there's another challenge facing employers who have middle-skills jobs to fill: the credentials gap.

Do you want employees who tackle challenges head-on, who stay motivated when the going gets tough, who see feedback as constructive and take responsibility for their mistakes?

As the United States economy continues to trend in a positive direction, many industries are still left wondering how to fill a surplus of open jobs with skilled workers. The retail industry isn't immune to this effect by any stretch, as the turnover rate in the industry was a whopping 13% as of March 2018.¹