Uplift - YWCA Reskilling in specialized technology

This initiative was created to address the labour market shortage. Employers don’t have the skilled talent they need to scale and grow their companies, the competitive nature which job seekers are experiencing in securing employment.

According to the World Economic Forum, “more than 1 billion jobs, almost one-third of all jobs worldwide, are likely to be transformed by technology in the next decade… we need to reskill more than 1 billion people by 2030.”  Additionally, by next year “42% of core skills required to perform existing jobs are expected to change.”

The pandemic has widened the gap of women contributing in the workplace as they are being splayed in caring responsibilities for their families, educating their children, supporting their parents, supporting their partners all at the sacrifice of their own careers.  The Feminist Shift sums it up nicely, “we know that before the pandemic, women in Waterloo Region were more likely to be found working precariously in part-time and low-wage jobs, doing care work and that they represented a large number of the employees in some of the sectors hardest hit by the result of lockdowns.”

This is why YW Kitchener-Waterloo In Her Shoes: Training and Employment Services has partnered with YWCAs across South and Eastern Ontario to provide reskilling for high-demand jobs right here in Waterloo Region thanks to funding from Ontario’s Federal Economic Development Agency.