MATC Program Helping to Shrink Labor Shortage

MILWAUKEE — Companies in two Milwaukee business improvement districts are getting urgently needed skilled workers thanks to a cooperative education partnership with Milwaukee Area Technical College.

MATC’s JobUp Milwaukee pilot program pairs employers in the Havenwoods and Menomonee Valley business improvement districts with MATC students, who get good-paying jobs and on-the-job training in their area of study for at least two semesters. The program is being piloted with funding from JP Morgan Chase, Bader Philanthropies, and Greater Milwaukee Foundation.

“JobUp is providing businesses in our area workers with the essential skills and vital talents needed right now,” said Laura Bray, MATC’s vice president for College Advancement and External Communications. “The current workforce shortage is real, and the skills gap is real. This coordinated approach can help develop the untapped workforce in our city, impact hiring practices, transform lives and bring success to the community.”

“Employers in the program build their talent pipeline, increase productivity, evaluate prospective employees under real working conditions, and reduce recruitment and training costs,” said Courtney Kelly, MATC’s coordinator of the JobUp Milwaukee program. “It’s like an extended job interview while ‘growing your own’ employee who will have a degree soon.”

“It’s a real win-win. Employers get workers now. Students get paid to work in their areas of study,” Kelly said. Students also enhance their resumes, expand their professional network, and gain valuable insight into their career pathways, she said.

And companies certainly need the help. According to projections, 60% of jobs in Milwaukee County require a degree beyond high school, but only 37% of the county’s adult population have a postsecondary degree.

JobUp Milwaukee offers the opportunity to provide under-represented groups greater access to innovation-economy jobs. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing economic disparities for people of color in the region, Bray said. “This is a beneficial way for companies to ‘walk the talk,’ get involved with MATC and grow their diverse talent pipelines.” Fifty-five percent of MATC students identify as people of color.

YWCA Southeast Wisconsin is also a program partner and is providing diversity, equity, and inclusion training to partnering employers in the business improvement districts.

“At this moment in time, companies need to look at changing the things they’ve done before and changing the status quo of how they get talent,” Bray said. “We believe it’s important to add co-op (education) to the mix. We have to throw everything at this.”

The JobUp Milwaukee program was inspired by the Chicago Apprentice Network, an initiative driven by employers in conjunction with Chicago City Colleges, which grew during the past four years from three companies offering non-traditional apprenticeships in the professional services sector to more than 50 employers across 18 industries, offering more than 1,000 apprenticeships in Chicagoland.

For more information about MATC JobUp Milwaukee, contact us at jobup@matc.edu or visit matc.edu/jobup.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.