Balancing the Equation in Employment Technology

The Bottom Line

The millions of dollars invested in technology solutions to help U.S. adults find and sustain employment disproportionately favor those targeted at high-skilled, white-collar opportunities, but this may change. Why?

The Employment Technology Equation

Tyton Partners’ analysis of the employment technology landscape, informed by a comprehensive review of more than 500 suppliers active in the market today, reveals unique perspectives from this expanding ecosystem. We define “employment technology” as the broad set of companies and organizations across four segments –

• Learning & Training
• Assessment & Matching
• Mentoring & Support
• Job Search & Placement

– that assist individuals in enhancing their skills and achieving greater workforce mobility; this ecosystem is broader than the oft-cited “HR technology” arena.

An increasing number of entrepreneurs are designing solutions for the diverse population of 46 million low-income, under-prepared adults who lack high school diplomas or have limited exposure to college-level coursework. However, against the backdrop of explosive growth in employment technology, the needs of low-skill adults are often overlooked because they lack purchasing power and generally require human capital intensive interventions.

Weighing New Solutions

The magnitude of this market opportunity cannot be ignored for much longer. A growing number of companies, foundations, and more traditional investors are actively pursuing ways to reach this population through solutions and strategies that incorporate mobile technologies, analytics, and partnerships with on-ground organizations, such as American Job Centers, local and regional community-based organizations, and community colleges, among others. These solutions and strategies help suppliers scale their access to this population, which is often an impediment.

Companies and entrepreneurs are also thinking more critically about the support and scaffolding needed to help low-skill workers maximize their potential. Effective support interventions that cater to the specific needs of this population will be transformative; scalable models that help low-skill, under-prepared adults upskill, find and retain new jobs will shift the economic and life trajectory for these workers.

Finding the Balance

A small percentage of private investment in the past decade has gone toward companies that target the low-income, under-prepared adult population. This lack of investment in light of increasing demand for solutions that create greater mobility for this population indicates there is a market for additional investment and engagement.

We believe that the supply of funding will move to underwrite innovative solutions that meet the demand of public and private organizations trying to address this adult population. How would you balance this equation?

Contact us to learn more about this market and investment opportunity.