OCTOBER 2020CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM9that improve the delivery of those degrees and credentials. So their downfallmeans the investment thesis behind much of what currently passes for edtech must also be called into question.The corollary of edtech's decline is the rise of a new multi-billion-dollar category that sits at the intersection of education and employment: Jobtech.Jobtech doesn'tenhance, instrument,or scale legacy education. Instead, it bridges the gap between candidates and jobs: matching, training, and often literally putting candidates into jobs. Jobtech companies translate skills and experience into positive labor market outcomes. Unlike edtech, which takes a glass-half-empty approach to skills, jobtech is glass-half-full: how can we create value from the skills and capabilities that job seekers have, or could develop via faster + cheaper pathways that don't require multiple years or tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt?Education, training, or upskilling is often a component of jobtech, but not necessarily. Jobtech recognizes that upskilling is a good thing; being against it is like being un-American on the 4th of July. But upskilling alone won't fix broken hiring processes or convince reluctant employers to hire.Jobtech is also different from HR tech. Like edtech, HR tech makes HR more efficient by storing data securely, automating routine processes, improving the employee experience, and providing analytics that (hopefully) provide insights for better business decision-making. Just as edtech tries to make legacy education work better, HR tech improves legacy HR practices, but typically doesn't change them.Rather than optimizing broken systems, Jobtech connects education and employment.Jobtech pioneerslike AstrumUare developing competency marketplaces, platforms that serve as a GPS for job seekers: profiling current skillsets, ascertaining gaps to desired jobs, and recommending pathways. Jobtech companies like Riipenlink employers with students via real work projects that can be incorporated into courses and programs at colleges and universities. And new jobtech apprenticeships like Talent Path and Optimum Healthcare IT allow employers seeking software developer, data analyst, and electronic medical record talent to "try before they buy" by sourcing, screening ­ and yes ­ training, while serving as the employer of record until employers are convinced to hire. Jobtech companies focus on what individuals are capable of, and then translate those capabilities into economic opportunity.Jobtech is not only important to help close the skills gap and put America back to work, it's also an equity imperative. While it was once universally held that colleges and universities were an engine of socioeconomic mobility, due to changes in affordability and employability, they are increasingly magnifying pervasive inequities and disadvantaging people of color. Meanwhile, research suggests as many as 71 million workers have the skills to succeed in higher-wage jobs, but are systemically overlooked because they lack degrees.I'm not an expert on the national economy. But I'm pretty sure that with nearly 30 million Americans unemployed, the rise of jobtech is a positive development.Rather than continuing to bet everything on the skills we're missing ­ a longshot ­ the rise of jobtech shows America is waking up to the idea of making safer bets onthe skills we already have.
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