Is Your Workforce Future-Proof?

Southeast Michigan is a region of disconnect. Today’s students do not know what jobs they will want tomorrow, and are therefore not pursuing educational paths that will be necessary to fill the vacant jobs of the future. This serious pipeline issue will result in lost business or outsourced talent. Work exists, but qualified workers do not.

Local companies know they must do a better job of connecting with students and advertising their industry, and students and educators want to communicate with business so as to pursue an informed educational plan, but neither have had the means to do so—until now.

MI Bright Future is the Southeast Michigan solution to the talent pipeline problem. With this web-based career preparation and readiness platform, students can get help making those big decisions about what to do after high school. This easy-to-use portal allows the worlds of education and industry to unite through a network of participating members, allowing students and professionals to broach the communication gap for the first time. MI Bright Future acts as a pathway to guide students toward high-demand careers by giving them the tools to find their strengths, choose a career, and then help them connect with professionals from Southeast Michigan who can guide them through the process of achieving their dreams.

By making themselves and the occupations they hire visible to students, companies can play a critical role in assisting youth to establish a career path and set goals that they can begin achieving immediately. Once students and professionals have interfaced online, they can agree to participate in further career development learning opportunities, such as company tours, job shadowing, mock interviews or classroom presentations. These activities are a chance to connect the real world to the classroom—to reach the students today who will be the workforce of tomorrow. This connection creates a context for education, making it less a framework of obligation and more a foundation for future success.

MI Bright Future provides a safe, virtual space for current professionals to connect with future professionals, and can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection. This one-stop management system allows companies to efficiently reach hundreds of thousands of students, parents and educators to make them aware of all the great opportunities in Michigan.

For more information on MI Bright Future, register to attend an upcoming webinar. To learn more about the program, visit mibrightfuture.org, or contact Brooke Franklin, program consultant, at bfrankli@detroitchamber.com, or 313-596-0365.