Underemployment is a common trap among first-in-their-family college grads and those from low-income backgrounds and underserved communities. Kalani Leifer, founder and CEO of nonprofit COOP Careers, talks about how his organization works with recent grads to equip them with digital skills and to help them develop all-important peer-group social capital.

COOP Careers: It’s what you know and who you know

Artificial intelligence. Robotics. The Gig Economy. Globalization. The world is changing at a dizzying pace in ways that will have a profound effect on the economy, jobs and the flow of talent. How will firms cope with the changes ahead and what steps do they need to take today? Each episode features faculty from the world’s leading business school interviewing CEOs, technologists and experts on the bleeding edge discussing how to survive and thrive by managing the future of work.

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The president & CEO of Strada Education Foundation on aligning post-secondary education, economic mobility, and labor market demand. How does inclusive workforce development drive economic growth and opportunity? Highlights include research on the effectiveness of state systems, policy options, and the structural challenge of underemployment among graduates.

Strada’s Stephen Moret on democratizing access to education and opportunity

Propel America CEO Chad Rountree on rethinking the high school-to-career transition to meet the needs of low-income students, colleges, and employers.

Can work-based learning revive college-for-all?

What are the consequences of treating employees as an expense rather than an asset? Cappelli argues that this “penny wise and pound foolish” practice hurts the bottom line by discouraging investments in a skilled workforce and prioritizing downsizing, irrespective of efficiency. How changes in management and reporting can realign incentives. Also, C-suite demographics and the impact of AI.

Wharton’s Peter Cappelli on changing the talent equation

WGU President Scott Pulsipher returns to the podcast for an update on the online institution’s mission to extend the reach of skill-oriented instruction. The HBS grad argues that the focus on competency rather than credit hours democratizes college access and economic opportunity.

Western Governors University:  Pursuing the network effects of competency based education

Managing the Future of Work co-chair Joe Fuller joins  Colorado State University's  Jocelyn Hittle to discuss his work on the Managing the Future of Work project and the Harvard Project on Workforce and to consider broader workforce trends.

COOP Careers: It’s what you know and who you know

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