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Even in the middle of the COVID-19 unemployment crisis, several industries are hiring. Employers are advertising jobs in health care, IT, and cybersecurity, to name a few of the still-in-demand sectors. Meantime, millions of Americans are looking for work.

RetrainAmerica is trying to connect the two.

The new exchange–launched by talent services company Catalyte—is working with businesses, training program providers, and government agencies to aggregate the latest information on what kind of training programs are available.

In this episode of Work in Progress, Jacob Hsu, the CEO of Catalyte says we are at a turning point in American history and the unemployed need a guide to a good job and career. “Unless we provide workers whose jobs won’t exist at the end of this crisis direct opportunities for new career paths, we risk abandoning the most economically vulnerable Americans. RetrainAmerica is here to provide those opportunities for the jobs of the future and help businesses find the talent they desperately need.”

Hsu says the company believes that aptitude is equally distributed, but opportunity is not, and it is dedicated to finding diverse tech talent for its clients. That same ethos is found in the formation of RetrainAmerica.

“The goal really is to bring employers onboard who are gonna essentially sponsor and help people get into those (in0demand) careers. Ultimately, any employer can join. All we’re really asking is make a public pledge that they are going to essentially give people an opportunity, regardless of their backgrounds, because they don’t have certain types of experience, or because they lack a traditional pedigree or credentials.”

Hsu says the exchange is available for anybody who is looking to go through a retraining program. RetrainAmerica started out locally this summer in Baltimore and is expanding nationally with the addition of new partners.

Listen to the podcast here to find out more about the program, or find us wherever you get your podcasts.

Episode 142: Jacob Hsu, CEO, Catalyte
Host: Ramona Schindelheim, Editor-in-Chief, WorkingNation
Producer: Larry Buhl
Executive Producers: Joan Lynch, Melissa Panzer, and Ramona Schindelheim
Music: Composed by Lee Rosevere and licensed under CC by 4.0.

You can check out all the other podcasts at this link: Work in Progress podcasts