Hiring Diverse Talent Now: Event Recap
Last Thursday, TechEquity Collaborative and TechHire Oakland hosted a conversation about tech apprenticeships and how they can fast-track overlooked talent into companies based on skill instead of degree or pedigree.
The panel discussion was hosted by Kapor Center’s Chief Technology Community Officer, Lili Gangas. The panelists were Shalini Agarwal, Director of Engineering at LinkedIn; Manisha Priyadarshini, Sales Development Representative and former apprentice at Github; Orrian Willis, Senior Workforce Development Specialist at the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development; and Annelies Goger, Senior Associate at Social Policy Research Associates.
Check out our livetweet thread here:
Lili Gangas began the conversation by describing the concept of apprenticeships. Originally, apprenticeships have been tied to labor (like construction trades) but as the economy has begun to shift towards Tech, this same model of teaching new skills to people through hands-on experience and mentorship can be implemented in Tech. Apprenticeships can create more talent on a larger scale without the prohibitive costs a traditional four year college experience entails.
With quickly-advancing technology and a highly competitive labor market, apprenticeships can be a way to recruit people from non-traditional talent pools like self-taught coders or community college graduates that are often overlooked. While apprenticeship models vary, tech apprenticeships are usually about six months with a goal to transition to a full time job.
Why are apprenticeships important?
While introducing the panel, Gangas asked a crucial question, why are apprenticeships important to you? For Annelies Goger, growing up in a working-class home influenced her view. She talked about how despite modest means, she still managed to have the opportunity to attend college and later grad school, but with a lot of debt. Goger fears that now these opportunities for higher education are not as accessible, given how expensive obtaining a degree has become. As inequality increases, Goger wants to see more economic opportunity increase as well, and apprenticeships are a way to do that.
Orrian Willis described his passion for apprenticeships stemming from his personal experience as well, as a first-generation college graduate from a low-opportunity neighborhood. Willis recounted “I grew up seeing a lot of talent around me but not a lot of opportunity, and I think that apprenticeships cast a wider net to capture some of my friends”. Willis’s reflection definitely exhibits how through apprenticeships, tech companies can begin to bring opportunities to communities that are often ignored. Apprenticeships are about more than learning new skills, but also creating a pathway towards economic opportunity and mobility.
Manisha Priyadarshini spoke about the challenges her parents faced immigrating here. Moving from Nepal to India, they were viewed as less-than. Similarly, while here in the U.S., those same feelings of being unworthy resurfaced. Priyadarshini stated “At this point, I truly believe all of these challenges are put in our place to make us stronger and when we do get the opportunity to share our narrative, that contributes to making this world just a little bit more wholesome.” Priyadarshini’s words describe the value of apprenticeships. Not only are they a form of opportunity, but also a platform to share our stories with others so that they too can learn.
Shalini Agarwal knows apprenticeships are important because by working closely with apprentices at LinkedIn, she has been touched by each and every one of their stories. For Agarwal, she describes this narrative sharing as bringing her lots of energy to help out more both from an equality and economic opportunity perspective to change lives. She stated “The tech world is so ubiquitous today, you don’t have to just look for people who go through a four year degree”. Agarwal expressed that now, with the right motivation, energy, and passion, people can learn themselves with all the available tools online. These are the people companies should be targeting to build their confidence and provide opportunity.
Companies and Apprenticeships
Shalini Agarwal recounted how LinkedIn began to implement apprenticeships through the Reach Program. Agarwal explained how four years ago, there were no programs or even conversations around apprenticeships. However, Agarwal stated that LinkedIn has a vision of creating economic opportunity for the global workforce. “The workforce is not just from a four-year degree college,” Agarwal declared, “There are people learning in community colleges, bootcamps or are self taught. The question is, how do companies tap into those people?”
Agarwal revealed “Most of the hiring pipelines, talent acquisition, don’t look at those people, they don’t look at their resumes, they don’t even get screened or move on to the next level”. Companies are recruiting with the same strategies and deny chances to people simply because they lack a degree.
Willis, who works with companies to establish apprenticeship opportunities through the city of San Francisco, stated “Most companies at some point in their growth cycle really benefit from apprenticeship”. He highlighted LinkedIn’s Reach Program as a strong model of how companies can successfully work with apprenticeships. Changing the ways in which companies recruit allows for companies to become more innovative as they hire people from more diverse backgrounds.
Willis continued with “What apprenticeships allow companies to do is it allows you to develop talent, moving you from a consumer to a producer of talent.” For Willis, apprenticeships can be a successful way to shift company culture; not only do apprentices benefit, but the companies themselves grow from having people share their unique experiences.
Gangas expanded the conversation to a more global perspective. She asked Annelies Goger, who researches global models of apprenticeships, what can the U.S. do that other countries are successfully doing? Goger responded that there needs to be cultural mindset shifts, moving from stigma to status. Historically, Goger describes people having two tracks in life, one leading towards college, the other towards labor. These tracks were racialized and those were the only tracks to take.
In Switzerland, Goger explained that there are tracks to college where students are able to do apprenticeships while in high school, allowing them to work and learn at the same time. As a result, students can have a better gateway to obtain higher education while developing real-world work skills.
Goger also explained that the U.S. needs to shift how youth are viewed. Instead of viewing youth as a risk, we should view youth as potential. Switzerland, for example, invests in their youth at early ages, not because it feels good, but because they see the potential. The question is, how can we implement this in the U.S.?
All panelists agreed with Willis’s point, companies need to shift from consuming talent to producing talent. Hiring practices and recruiting strategies are outdated and need to shift so that everyone has an opportunity to benefit from the growing tech economy. Apprenticeships are an opportunity for companies to actively build equity and benefit from a more diverse hiring pipeline. They are a way for people to learn new skills and have mentors but also a tool for companies to become more innovative in the process.
Tech apprenticeships provide a different avenue towards tech jobs and in the process build a tech economy that creates opportunity that’s more accessible to everyone. As Willis declared, companies should shift from being consumers of talent to producers of talent. There are a variety of issues apart from company hiring practices that are present within the tech economy. If you are interested in learning more about workforce development and other labor related issues within tech, read our Workforce and Labor Platform.
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