Upskilling Program, New Education Benefit
through Guild to Offer Direct, Debt-Free Route to In-Demand
Careers
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 6, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- PartnerUp®, a PNC Bank-led initiative aimed at
steering high school graduates into well-paying careers in
high-growth industries, is moving into Cleveland and Birmingham, Alabama, after a successful
five-year run with Pittsburgh area
school students and local employers. Also, this week PNC launched a
new career development and tuition benefit available to its
employees nationwide.
"With PartnerUp's expansion, we're working with more employers
and local education partners to provide local high school graduates
with the skills needed to land entry-level careers in high-demand
industries like healthcare and financial services, without the
burden of student loan debt," said Vicki
Henn, PNC chief human resources officer. "As a
talent-focused company, we're committed to investing in impactful
skills development programs and educational initiatives that help
drive career growth and economic opportunity in the communities we
serve."
Since PartnerUp's inception in 2018, PNC Bank has partnered with
30 schools and 16 employers to offer more than 6,000 high school
students the opportunity to secure a more direct, debt-free route
to in-demand careers. PNC's effort to extend the career development
program to more high schoolers comes as employers across the
country continue to grapple with worker shortages in the wake of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In today's labor market, it's more important than ever that
employers challenge our thinking on the experiences and
qualifications needed for available jobs, and our roles as leaders
in developing talent," said Brianna
McMeekin, PNC talent program manager. "With this expansion
into new markets, PartnerUp is giving more employers the
opportunity to invest and build a pipeline of talent from local
high schools, where we're creating content to match career
education standards and offering real pathways to success for
students, post-graduation."
PartnerUp's push into the Cleveland and Birmingham regions builds on the company's
multi-year effort to develop a scalable career pathway program that
could be replicated and deployed in additional communities across
its footprint. Throughout the school year, the multi-session
program offers students in-school curriculum and career development
resources, such as resume writing, interview coaching and employer
recruitment events to help prepare graduates to go straight into
the workforce.
Since 2018, PNC Bank has offered more than 100 PartnerUp
graduates diverse roles at the financial services company, and 87
have accepted and started their career paths with the company.
Other graduates of the program have landed at partner
companies.
For Neylienid Quinones, a recent graduate of Cleveland's John
Marshall School of Civic & Business Leadership, the
hands-on training, networking resources and career coaching offered
through PartnerUp has turned into a life-changing opportunity. The
18-year-old recently landed an entry-level position with PNC's
Talent Recruitment team, after successfully completing the
program's curriculum. Quinones is one of more than 30 Cleveland
Metropolitan School District seniors who received job offers from
PNC or other employer partners participating in the PartnerUp
program.
"It was an eye opener," she said. "I was looking for a job, but
I wasn't expecting to get such a big job. I was working in fast
food at the time and thinking I would try to go into retail. But
instead, I had the opportunity to go from fast food to a career on
my second job."
PartnerUp is one of two career development initiatives the
company has invested in to help meet increased demand for skilled
workers throughout its footprint. In partnership with Guild, PNC
recently introduced an education benefit available to the company's
62,000 employees after 90 days of employment.
The new benefit gives full-time and part-time employees access
to a best-in-class education experience that includes a curated
catalog of tuition-covered professional certificates, college prep
courses, and associate and bachelor's degrees to help advance
career mobility. Fully funded, partially funded and reimbursement
options are available.
"We're honored to partner with PNC to bring career opportunities
to its workforce," said Natalie
McCullough, Guild president and chief commercial officer.
"As a leading financial services organization, PNC is supporting
career mobility in high-demand areas such as data science and
cybersecurity and taking an intentional approach to create career
pathways for its existing employees."
About PartnerUp
PartnerUp is an in-school,
employer-facilitated program designed to prepare students to
graduate from high school to a promising career. PartnerUp helps
students position themselves to successfully embrace the job
opportunities that await them by guiding them in building their
resumes, sharpening their interviewing techniques and developing
power skills. For more information, visit
https://pnc.foleon.com/students/partnerup/.
About Guild
Guild's Career Opportunity Platform
enables forward-thinking employers to invest in their employees,
unlocking life-changing opportunities for personal and professional
growth through education and learning programs, career development
and one-on-one coaching. For more information,
visit https://www.guildeducation.com/.
About PNC Bank
PNC Bank, N.A., is a member of The PNC
Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). PNC is one of the
largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its
customers and communities for strong relationships and local
delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of
lending products; specialized services for corporations and
government entities, including corporate banking, real estate
finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset
management. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com.
CONTACT:
Asia Rambo
(678) 428-5812
asia.rambo@pnc.com
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SOURCE PNC Bank