Big Bets: Help for the ‘Forgotten Worker’

Roughly one-third of the U.S. unemployed can’t find a job because of the mismatch between workers’ skills and what employers need.

“These people are essentially forgotten,” says Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

JPMorgan Chase in late 2013 committed $250-million over five years to its New Skills at Work grants program. (It’s also investing $30-million abroad.)

Nobody knows what it will take to create big-scale programs to help people who don’t complete college.

“It’s an issue that gets little attention,” says Mr. Carnevale.

JPMorgan made $50-million in grants in the first year and has conducted labor-market studies in Columbus, Houston, and New York. YouthBuild and the National Academy Foundation received the biggest grants; they will support their local programs and academies working directly with students. Foundations supporting community colleges in Ohio and Louisiana won the largest grants to local groups.

JPMorgan is building “career maps” that will lay out the courses, training, or credentials needed for an array of entry-level, high-demand jobs; the cost and time required; and the advancement track from that job. Chauncy Lennon, director of New Skills at Work, says such detail will help colleges better direct students and help workers as they make career choices. “It’s one thing to say there are a lot of middle-skills jobs in the health-care sector,” he says. “It’s another thing to say: Here are those jobs, here are the skills required, and here’s a clear map.”

Urban Institute researchers are studying what works and what doesn’t. “We’re not going to fund training forever,” says Mr. Lennon. “We’re trying to show what a strong system looks like.”