Google starts $50M project to help displaced job seekers

Google launched a $50 million initiative Wednesday to assist "the most vulnerable" job seekers become successful in the workplace. File Photo by Robert Galbraith/UPI

July 26 (UPI) — Google launched a $50 million initiative Wednesday to assist “the most vulnerable” job seekers find jobs and do well in them.

The tech giant, through its philanthropy branch, Google.org, will provide money to assist nonprofits and draw on its volunteers for technical advice in preparing people for the “changing nature of work,” according to a blog post on its website.

The initiative is part of Google’s overall efforts to support education and economic opportunity. Google previously allocated $50 million toward the educational gap.

“Over the last five years, Google.org has supported nonprofits around the globe that provide underserved people with the skills and connections they need to secure new opportunities and jobs,” Jacqueline Fuller, president of Google.org, said in a statement. “These organizations have achieved great results, but it will take much more to ensure that work can be a pathway to prosperity for everyone.

“We also recognize that the way we work is changing, and we want to make sure that as many people as possible can make the most of the new jobs, industries and opportunities that are emerging-some of which we couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago.”

The two-year commitment will fund nonprofits focused on this issue with the first grants in the United States and Europe.

The three key points, according to Google.org, are:

Better ways to connect job seekers with jobs.

Effective training that is wide-reaching.

Improved job quality for low-wage workers.

“We hope that this funding and commitment from Google.org will contribute to a larger effort across companies, government, and civil society to help create a more inclusive economy for everyone,” Fuller said.

Among the nonprofits receiving money are Code For America — which helps job seekers use government tools and services to find employment — and France’s Bayes Impact, which uses machine learning to offer customized job recommendations.

A new feature in Google’s search engine uses machine learning to provide “easy-to-understand” job postings on the Internet. Also, the company’s Hire recruiting app makes it easier for employers “to find and attract new talent.”

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., appearing at Google’s D.C. office where the initiative was announced, said, “We’ve morphed from this traditional notion where you work for the same firm 30 years, to this notion, particularly for millennials, where the question is not ‘Where do you work?’ but ‘What are you working on?'”

Warner said work displacement is caused by the rise of contract work and automation. He’s previously pushed legislation to provide provide benefits, including retirement and health insurance, to contract workers. The Democrats’ bill would establish a $20 million grant fund in the Department of Labor for states, local governments and nonprofits to try different benefit options for gig workers.

Google’s parent Alphabet, with headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., has 72,000 full-time employees, according to Statistica, a statistics portal.

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