Dive Brief:
- New York City Public Schools is expanding its FutureReadyNYC career education and training program to 36 additional high schools, for a total of 135 schools serving about 15,000 students, and adding new pathways for HVAC and building decarbonization careers, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration said in a Dec. 2 news release.
- Over the past year, FutureReadyNYC has put $8.2 million in the hands of 10,000 high school students through work-based learning opportunities, New York City Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said during a Dec. 2 press conference at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn.
- The students’ earnings are “a true testament to the difference career-connected learning is already making in the lives of our students, putting them on a trajectory that will not only impact them but their entire families,” Aviles-Ramos said.
Dive Insight:
A push for more efficient buildings will drive significant job growth in the coming years, with building retrofits alone estimated to create an additional 1.3 million jobs worldwide by 2030 in a scenario where the world remains on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the International Energy Agency said in September. However, between 73% and 87% of U.S. energy efficiency employers in each of five sectors including construction and manufacturing reported at least some hiring difficulties in 2023, according to an August report from the U.S. Department of Energy.
“This is a high-demand industry,” Boys and Girls High School Principal Grecian Harrison said at the Dec. 2 press conference. “Our scholars are learning about energy-efficient systems and the integral ways this knowledge can open doors for them.”
Young people are increasingly interested in careers in skilled trades like HVAC, according to a Thumbtack study released in September. The study of 1,000 Generation Z individuals, or people born between 1997 and 2012, and 1,000 parents of Gen Z members found 55% of Gen Z respondents are considering skilled trades jobs, up from 43% in 2023. The study also found that 93% of Gen Z individuals and 80% of Gen Z parents believed learning a skilled trade can be a better route to economic security than attending college.
“Our young people are very afraid [for the future] when they finish their formal education. It’s almost like a cliff,” Adams said at the press conference, noting that FutureReadyNYC is “alleviating a lot of that fear because now they are going to have a skill.”
The $30 million program provides participating students with a rigorous work-based curriculum, along with on-the-job experience, early college credits and one-on-one guidance on post-graduation planning, Aviles-Ramos said.
FutureReadyNYC’s new HVAC and decarbonization pathway will join a second new career pathway, human and social services, and four other existing pathways for business and finance, education, healthcare and technology, according to NYC Public Schools’ website.
Since June 2022, the program has placed 527 students in apprenticeships in public and private sector companies, according to a separate news release from the Adams administration issued last month. Program officials expect to enable 350 additional apprenticeships next year, Melanie Mac, interim chief of student pathways at the NYC Department of Education, said at the press conference.
