Indiana’s been on a major workforce development kick this year with programs like the Next Level Jobs initiative and other specialized regional and academic programs taking shape in all of the state’s major economic development sectors. Now, a new plan aims to take things even further. An interstate partnership was announced recently as part of a cumulative effort on behalf of multiple governors to bring resources together to accelerate workforce innovation.
Twenty state governors, including Indiana’s, have teamed up to form the Skillful State Network, a collaboration that aims to transform the U.S. labor market into one that is skills-based where people can demonstrate or obtain skills needed for good digital economy jobs. Under this new model, value will be placed on those skills no matter where they were obtained.
The network marks the national expansion of an initiative called Skillful that was created in Colorado by the Markle Foundation, a charitable organization concerned with technology, health care, and national security. The mission of Skillful is to transition the labor market into one that is skills-based – wherein a person could be deemed qualified for a position based on the skills they have, not the degree they have.
