Companies Respond to Workforce Crisis
America’s workforce is experiencing unprecedented transformation.
Workers are aging. Experts estimate that by 2020, one in three workers will be 50 or older.
Baby boomers are approaching retirement. Many of the nation’s 76 million baby boomers—who make up a third of the workforce—are set to retire by the end of the decade.
Companies are facing skills gaps and shortages of qualified workers. In a recent survey, employers concluded that today’s workforce is “woefully ill prepared” for the demands of the workplace.
Skills are becoming outdated. Given the pace of technological change and heightened competition from abroad, skills developed early in a worker’s career may quickly become obsolete.
In this issue of Activity, we profile companies tackling employee recruitment and retention issues in innovative ways, using WorkKeys® and career readiness certificate programs.
Find out how the Campbell Soup Company plant in Maxton, North Carolina, identifies the most promising people among thousands of applicants. The company has teamed up with two community colleges to help shape its future workforce and to assess incumbent workers using job profiles and WorkKeys. Learn how a call center training program in Michigan—in combination with WorkKeys—gave one woman the confidence she needed to change her life.
As our workforce evolves, ACT continues to play a significant role in preparing employers and employees for the challenges ahead.
Campbell Soup Plant in North Carolina Adopts New Approach to Hiring, Promoting Right People
Today’s employers are taking a different approach to ensure they hire, train, and promote the right employees. Instead of relying completely on resumes or job applications, they are discovering that WorkKeys scores and a career readiness certificate confirming a person’s level of achievement provide more meaningful information.
Take the Campbell Soup Company plant in Maxton, North Carolina, where approximately six million cans of soup are made every day. Continually faced with the challenge of receiving hundreds of applications for only a handful of openings, the company sought a better way to accurately measure an applicant’s work skills.
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