The look of the labor market is unlike any he’s seen before, says Jake Hirsch-Allen, workforce development lead, LinkedIn. He notes more people are changing jobs and employers are struggling to fill positions.

Looking ahead to part of the gaps solution, Hirsch-Allen says, “I think eventually we’re going to create a spectrum of different learning opportunities from very formal educational institutions all the way through to what we do at home, with on-the job-training probably being in between. But we’re also going to create a spectrum from the sort of lifelong learning of a Ph.D., plus post-doc, plus tenure track professorship down to an hourlong micro-credential.”

He adds, “Postsecondaries like Western Governors University, SMHU, or ASU have adopted that mentality that they’re going to be able to create that diverse range of credentials from an hour to a lifetime. Those are the schools that will thrive.”

“The rest are really going to struggle. The school has to be part of the employers’ day-to-day operations and vice versa for both to succeed.”

Hirsch-Allen also notes he is excited about LinkedIn’s role in both education and workforce development systems. “We are helping those systems adopt new practices, best practices around everything from online learning to the use of labor market information. Designing curriculums according to what employers want right now, in terms of skills.”

“And how to better match individuals with those employers in American Job Centers and across workforce boards, basically powering the public systems with our technology and allowing them to use the same tools that the top recruiting firms, the top banks, the top educational institutions use, except that now we’re democratizing.”

Click here to learn more about LinkedIn.

WorkingNation—a collaborating partner of the ASU+GSV Summit—sat down with Hirsch-Allen in San Diego as part of our #WorkingNationOverheard social media series.

Hear from more innovators in education and tech in the public, private, and nonprofit spheres attending the ASU+GSV Summit 2021 here.

Follow the conversation on social media: #asugsvsummit #workingnationoverheard