SAN FRANCISCO (PRWEB) September 16, 2020
There is so much emphasis on growing the high-tech sector, but research and studies have failed to come up with findings that show that these benefits are reaching low-skilled workers. SkillWiki, a non-profit organization founded in 2016 by Silicon Valley entrepreneur and tech guru Kishore Pallapothu, seemed to have realized this ground reality a long time ago. The organization’s work has helped up-skill millions of low-wage workers to help them move into the higher-wage category. Its efforts and contributions to the society have been acknowledged and it has also won awards.
What Issues are Being Addressed by SkillWiki?
SkillWiki’s Program Director shed light on the massive, but mostly unseen and unrecognized problem that is affecting the American employment and business sector, “There has been staggering growth in the high-tech sector. This has also been fueling the average wages for mid and higher skilled workers. Then there are low-skilled workers. The only thing that benefits them is new employment, but the average wages fall in this segment, especially when housing costs are taken into account.”
SkillWiki identifies and reaches out to low-wage workers. The organization is based out of San Francisco Bay Area and facilitates training on latest IT skills to such workers. “Our objective is to equip low-wage and low-skilled employees with higher skills so that they can move into the higher-wage category and compete in the high-tech marketplace,” the Program Director said.
Low-Wage Workforce in America
The Brookings Institution reports that there are 53 million people in America who earn low wages. That is 44% of the total labor force. It seems that SkillWiki’s target audience and mission is too big. When asked about this challenge, the Program Director responded, “Yes, we realize the challenge that lies ahead of us. We have reached and improved the lives of millions in the last four years. We know that we alone may not be able to train and up-skill the entire US low-wage workforce in a few years, but we have the commitment, time, and technology at our behest.”
It is worth knowing that SkillWiki’s parent company also owns ChoozeHire, an AI-based company that is making the recruitment process more efficient and faster. SkillWiki is also expected to leverage the power of Artificial Intelligence in the near future to reach out to a larger workforce with its programs.
Low-Wage Work & Financial Volatility
Even when the economy is growing, low-wage workforce cycles more often between different jobs without growth in their wages. This is due to lack of job stability, which further causes financial volatility. “This is a strange cycle and we at SkillWiki have taken upon us to curb this unfortunate cycle,” the Director said.
He further quotes the Brookings findings, “There are 32 million workers in the country who are low-wage earners and are not getting employer-sponsored healthcare. If and when a crisis appears, they are the least-employer-attached workers. Their work hours are either reduced or they are laid off.”
“We have recorded significant success so far and expect to reach a larger segment of this workforce in the future,” he added. SkillWiki is an award-winning non-profit that won the 2019 ASA Elevate Award for its Career Enhancement Program. More new initiatives are expected by this unique organization that is backed by a well-known Silicon Valley angel investor.
For more information about SkillWiki and its self-less mission, it is recommended to directly contact the Program Director.