JobsFirstNYC partnered with Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Deputy Queens Borough President Ebony Young in the inaugural Queens Tech Fair to feature two of its innovative partnerships leveraging new technology and labor market demand for skills-based employment: Skills Mapping with SkyHive, a pioneer of Quantum Labor Analysis® for the rapid reskilling of workers and communities across the globe, and OneTen, a powerful national coalition determined to place one million Black talent without college degrees into good jobs within the next ten years.
The Fair, designed to bridge the diversity gap in the tech sector and increase access for underrepresented communities, was a launchpad for unmet need in the City. It brought together more than 500 job seekers of all ages, local elected officials, tech companies, employers, and nonprofit partners. JobsFirstNYC, SkyHive and OneTen brought new opportunities to job seekers in New York City to understand their current skills, explore careers and sectors and related skills in demand, connect to skills training, and match to jobs based on skills instead of degrees.
Featured presenter Keri Faulhaber, Vice President at JobsFirstNYC, highlighted the vital role that ethical AI is playing in localized solutions for communities like Queens. Citing her own experience as a young adult with experience across multiple sectors yet lacking clarity about how to apply her skill set in the job market, she said, “Skills mapping with JobsFirstNYC and SkyHive enables you to instantly identify the skills you have, the skills you’ll need, and how to bridge the gap. If I had had a tool to map that course for myself, we know for sure it would have been more direct.” According to Keri, “Building a skills passport with SkyHive’s technology platform empowers the user to discover direct pathways to higher-wage jobs and lay a foundation for a long-term career.”
OneTen’s Edwin Toussaint, joined JobsFirstNYC’s team at the Fair and introduced participants to OneTen’s Career Marketplace where job seekers without a college degree can get help with analyzing their experience and skills to expand their expectations of what’s possible. Edwin toured attendees around OneTen’s virtual career marketplace, showing them the simple steps for creating their profile by uploading a resume or answering a few questions to build it manually. Once in, they can review and apply to jobs matched to their unique set of skills, interests, and experience.
An enthusiastic elbow-to-elbow crowd, ready to educate and empower themselves with information about emerging job trends, new educational opportunities, and various career pathways was barely contained in the state-of-the-art Greater Nexus coworking space. Donovan Richards, Queens Borough President shared to the eager crowd that “Queens is thriving. We want to continue building the jobs of tomorrow and make sure all residents of Queens are at the forefront of innovation.”
The large turnout underscored the thirst for information about the burgeoning tech sector and provided an excellent first-hand opportunity for job seekers to experience valuable AI resources.
For more about these skills-based hiring initiatives, please contact Keri Faulhaber, Vice President, at kfaulhaber@jobsfirstnyc.org
Read more about the JobsFirstNYC and SkyHive partnership.
