Press Release: Jobs Report Shows Wide US Skills Gap; Entrepreneurs will Need to Lead

(Washington, DC) - July 6, 2018 - Allie Burns, Managing Director of global venture capital firm Village Capital, responded to this morning’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed the unemployment rate rising to 4% while wage growth slowed. A separate report on Thursday from ADP showed that American business' "number one problem is finding qualified workers."

“These reports remind us that millions of American workers are not prepared for the jobs of today, let alone the jobs of the future. Automation and artificial intelligence will continue to usher in the biggest transition in the global workforce since the industrial revolution, and we’ll need entrepreneurs to help lead the way in finding ways to prepare the workforce of the future. At Village Capital we’re excited to kick off our next venture-development program, Education US 2018: Bridging the Skills Gap, to support and invest in startups that are helping adults bridge the gap between jobs and skills through access to college completion tools and wraparound services, alternative credentialing, upskilling, and reskilling.”

Village Capital will announce the full cohort of 12 startups for Education US 2018: Bridging the Skills Gap next week. This is Village Capital’s sixth program focused on supporting seed-stage startups in education and workforce development. Village Capital’s affiliated investment fund, VilCap Investments, has made 12 investments in early-stage companies in this space , including Pairin and Qualified.

Earlier this week Village Capital released a report on AI and the future of the workforce, titled, Automation for Good: Can automation and artificial intelligence benefit the workforce?

For more information, reach out to Ben Wrobel at ben.wrobel@vilcap.com or (917) 846-0658.

Village Capital is a global venture capital firm that helps entrepreneurs bring big ideas from vision to scale. Our mission is to reinvent the system to back the entrepreneurs of the future. Our vision is a future where business creates equity and long-term prosperity. Since 2009, we have supported more than 1,000 early-stage entrepreneurs through our investment readiness programs. Our affiliated fund, VilCap Investments, has provided seed funding to more than 90 program graduates.