Upskilling: A National Emergency

Sebastian Thrun — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 17:17:06 GMT

Tony Boswell is a survivor and an inspiration. As a college drop-out, he started his professional career driving trucks. A decade later he managed to pay back his college debt and even buy his own truck, providing him and his family with a steady income. Then disaster struck. His truck engine broke. With a $23,000 repair bill (charged to his credit card!) he was unable to make his monthly payments. Forced to sell his truck, and along with it his livelihood. Everything seemed to be over. This is when Tony came across a Google-sponsored Fellowship to one of Udacity’s Nanodegree programs on software engineering. Seeing this as his second chance for a college-level education, he dug in. He aced the program, which landed him a follow-up Fellowship to Udacity’s Frontend Developer program, a program focused on entry-level job placement in the tech industry. He aced this program, too. A few interviews later, he landed his dream job as a front-end developer, effectively doubling his income and, unexpectedly, a pandemic-proof job!

For over two years, I have been working with the White House and the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board (AWPAB) on alternative pathways and credentials for upskilling the American People. The board is a nonpartisan group of leading CEOs, educators, and policymakers. The likes of Apple’s Tim Cook serve on this board, as does Scott Pulsipher, the President of Western Governors University. Most people agree that upskilling and job-readiness are core to our nation’s future, and are equally supported by politicians on both sides of the aisle.

COVID-19 has changed everything. Within weeks, more than 20 million American workers lost their jobs, and the economy was driven into recession. And — sadly — many of those lost jobs will never return. This makes “upskilling” a national emergency!

So this week, we are launching a new ad campaign, in coordination with the White House, Ad Council, and many corporate leaders across the country. Following the example of Tony Boswell, this multi-million dollar campaign seeks to encourage Americans to “find something new” and offers resources to help them explore a wide range of education and training options, including online and virtual learning at Udacity. The campaign is the realization of the work done by the White House’s American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, which Ivanka Trump co-chairs with Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. And by presidential order, the US Government is now prioritizing hiring based on demonstrated skills, not college pedigree. This is part of a broad new nation-wide strategy to upskill the American workforce.

I am incredibly excited about this direction. Many years ago, I immigrated to the USA because I wanted to live the American Dream. But, I came with a Ph.D. in hand, earned in Germany, and paid for by German taxpayers. So many Americans cannot live the American Dream today, because they lack the necessary skills and education, they are drowning in college debt. This is our chance to change this and to rebuild the American Dream. As Tony Boswell’s example illustrates, the American Dream can still be alive. But it requires a radically new approach when it comes to offering skills and education to the American people, one that is relevant, flexible, and affordable — and one that this ad campaign is now promoting.

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Upskilling: A National Emergency