This month, NMC will introduce its Workplace Readiness Series aimed at filling the technical and workplace skills gap faced by many northern Michigan employers. This new series of online training will equip workers with skills in areas ranging from computer literacy to business communications to project management fundamentals.
Through the Workplace Readiness Series, workers can achieve professional certificates and micro-credentials. Specific programs will include:
- Certificate in Customer Service
- Certificate in Workplace Communication
- Certificate in Computer Literacy
- Micro-credentials will be available for Programmable Logic Controllers and Electronics
Employers across the Grand Traverse Region continue to face vast challenges related to attracting and retaining talent. In Spring 2021, Traverse Connect surveyed regional employers to uncover the reasons behind these challenges and to propose recommendations. The Workplace Readiness Series is a response to the 2021 Grand Traverse Region Skills Gap Study.
Sessions will be bite-sized — brief in length, but thorough in content — allowing participants already in the workplace to gain and/or enhance their skills and apply them to their jobs in short order.
“NMC is thrilled to partner with Traverse Connect to deliver this new series to the community. It is our vision to provide educational opportunities to transform lives, and play a part in addressing this unprecedented challenge for employers’ workforce needs,” said NMC Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Jason Slade.
“NMC’s new certificate and micro-credential programs showcase the college’s flexibility and responsiveness to the business community’s urgent needs. After we reported the findings from the 2021 Grand Traverse Region Skills Gap Study in September, our regional employers and workforce already have new programs available locally to help advance the skillsets of regional employees,” said Traverse Connect CEO Warren Call.
Online classes start Feb. 7 with subsequent sessions later in the spring. For more information on the Workplace Readiness Series, visit nmc.augusoft.net, or contact Ed Bailey (ebailey@nmc.edu) or Elizabeth Sonnabend (esonnabend@nmc.edu).