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Dr. Arthur Langer,
Workforce Opportunity Services

Organizations are not accustomed to managing talent that is at a pre-college level. Although organizations have programs, such as internships, few if any have an organized approach to assimilating 17-20 year-old students, many of who recently graduated or are graduating from high school. Organizations tend to follow process-oriented procedures for managing talent—very much resembling supply-chain procedures of the 1950s (Cappelli, 2008). It is time to examine alternative supplies of new talent in the US.

Workforce Opportunity Services (WOS) is a non-profit social venture that provides a new and innovative supply chain of workers in the US. WOS uses an outsourcing-to-employment model that trains high-school graduates through long-term academic, social, and professional support. It targets minority and traditionally under-served populations in the high technology industry, building the IT skill sets of these individuals while enlarging the pool of local skilled IT workers.

The foundation of the WOS mission is to attract less financially fortunate students, who may be a better long-term fit for the corporation and compete effectively on price while providing corporations with college-trained talent at a young age. Students get their degree part-time while working first for WOS. This approach can help reform the higher educational system which is still geared towards a college graduate as the right of passage into the workplace. Further, it can help support the growing number of jobs that require off-hours, or workers that may need to work from home or from a distance.