Goodwill® Joins Top U.S. Corporations To Upskill The American Workforce

National Effort Seeks to Address Shortage in Skilled Workers

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May 12, 2015, 08:00 ET

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 12, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- There are millions of job openings in the United States, but companies report having difficulties finding workers with the right skills, training and credentials to fill them. The inability to find a talented pool of workers with the right skills restricts industry growth and hurts our competitive edge. In an effort to address this shortage, Goodwill Industries International is working with more than two dozen of the nation's top corporations to launch the first of its kind partnership called Business Champions Supporting Credential Completion. Business Champions members are taking on the task of getting more business leaders to upskill the American workforce by investing in ongoing education, training and career advancement support for their employees.

According to a recent survey by the human resources firm, ManpowerGroup, forty percent of available jobs stay unfilled because of the shrinking pool of skilled adult workers with the right training and credentials including licenses, degrees and industry-recognized certificates. Over the next decade, 65 percent of jobs will require workers to have college degrees or postsecondary credentials.

"Goodwill is committed to helping people with disabilities, veterans and their families, older workers, young adults, and others facing challenges to finding employment attain the skills, qualifications and industry-recognized credentials needed to compete in tomorrow's workforce," said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. "Postsecondary credentials are essential to helping people earn many of tomorrow's jobs and advance in the workplace. We encourage more business leaders to invest in ongoing education, training and career advancement to support their employees and keep the marketplace competitive."

Business Champions members are leaders at top businesses across the United States, representing a wide variety of sectors including but not limited to agriculture, health care and retail. Goodwill Industries International joins Hilton Worldwide, PepsiCo, McDonald's Corporation and other companies in this collaboration.

The work of the Business Champions is facilitated by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) and The Aspen Institute Skills for America's Future, organizations which share the goal of providing more Americans with access to the education and training they need to succeed. The work is also supported by funding from the Lumina Foundation.

About Goodwill Industries International
Goodwill Industries International is a network of 165 community-based agencies in the United States and Canada with a presence in 14 other countries. Goodwill is one of America's top 20 most inspiring companies (Forbes, 2014). Goodwill agencies are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that fund job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 3,000 stores and online at shopgoodwill.com®. Local Goodwill agencies also build revenue and create jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food services preparation, and document imaging and shredding. In 2013, more than 9.8 million people in the United States and Canada benefited from Goodwill's career services. To learn more, visit goodwill.org.

To find a Goodwill location near you, use the online locator at Goodwill.org or call (800) GOODWILL. Follow us on Twitter: @GoodwillIntl and @GoodwillCapHill, and find us on Facebook: GoodwillIntl.

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SOURCE Goodwill Industries International