KC Beacon: KC Goes Tech provides training — and earning potential — to the people
By Mili Mansaray, The Kansas City Beacon
In Kansas City and across the country, there aren’t enough workers to fill middle-skills jobs, which require at least a high school diploma but not a four-year degree.
According to the latest data available from the National Skills Coalition, in 2018, 52% of U.S. jobs require skills training beyond high school. But only 43% of America’s workers have had access to the training necessary to qualify for these careers.
In Missouri, 53% of jobs qualify as middle-skilled, yet only 46% of Missouri’s workers have had access to the training. In Kansas, the numbers are similar: 54% of jobs are middle-skilled, but only 44% have access to training.
KC Digital Drive is working to address this issue with this month’s launch of KC Goes Tech, a microgrant program that will award 10 organizations $2,000 each to increase digital training. Half of the grant — $1,000 — is a stipend to help someone from the organization or the community they work with to become a trainer. That person will join a cohort and deliver digital literacy training to the organization’s clientele.