A Data-Driven Approach to Transforming Remote Job Access for STARs

Jacoby Spicer was looking for a remote job in user interface and web design while pursuing educational opportunities in healthcare and psychology. He had remote work experience but was struggling to find opportunities for someone without a college degree amid increased competition for remote roles.  

Then Spicer found SkillUp. He used SkillUp’s resources, including its new remote job catalog, webinars and career coaching, to refine his resume and access training that opened new doors for his career.

“Trying to find a job over the last several years has been really challenging. It’s a skill that I have had to develop to actually be able to articulate my worth in a different way,” he explained. “SkillUp offers so many different interactions with people that really help you sort of redesign yourself to feel good about where you’re going.”

Though the availability and popularity of remote work has grown since the pandemic, remote roles are not distributed equally across the population. Government data shows that the roughly 15 million remote workers in the United States are disproportionately white and Asian and more likely to have a college education than the population as a whole. 

SkillUp’s target audience is job-ready individuals who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) and do not have college degrees. Their users are diverse —  67% identify as persons of color. These workers often lack visibility into remote work. Access to remote jobs can be particularly important for workers who are also balancing caregiving responsibilities, school or training programs, health conditions, or long commutes that make working in-person jobs difficult or even impossible. SkillUp recognized an opportunity to increase access to remote jobs for these underserved populations.

"Remote work became extremely important throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and as our workforce continues to evolve, individuals without a degree or with limited work experience are still actively seeking remote jobs," said Desiree Jewell, senior vice president of marketing and communications at SkillUp. "Through user feedback and market insights, we saw that many existing job boards lacked remote opportunities for those without a degree and simultaneously, had employers across the country trying to reach workers without degrees to fill available, fully-remote roles. We knew we could help."

In September 2023, SkillUp launched a new remote jobs catalog supported by the Truist Foundation. The catalog surfaces remote jobs across business, healthcare, tech, logistics and manufacturing that do not require a degree. SkillUp uses rigorous quality standards to evaluate positions — careers must pay a living wage and be in high demand. There should be an easy and affordable path to get the needed credentials for these careers or on the job training and apprenticeship opportunities. Finally, they must offer chances to advance. 

With additional funding from the GitLab Foundation, they have since improved their product technology and executed extensive digital marketing efforts to raise awareness of the catalog and SkillUp’s wraparound support. 

The remote job catalog, which is updated daily, has about 5,500 jobs listed and covers every U.S. state. The number of listed jobs has climbed as high as 11,000, depending on the time of year and demand. To date, more than 150,000 STARs have used the catalog to search available jobs and SkillUp estimates that nearly 2,000 users have secured remote jobs through the platform so far. The top remote employers so far have included major corporations such as United Health, CVS, BuildWithin, State Farm and Travelers Insurance.

Through user data, SkillUp has found that the remote job board serves as an important first touch for the organization with more than 75% of all users reporting an interest in remote work. Users begin their journey by perusing remote jobs but then often explore short-term training programs and opportunities such as career coaching, soft skill support, and resume and interview tips

"The individuals we see with the highest success rates in securing remote jobs are those leveraging the full SkillUp platform experience," said Jewell.

“We have a lot of visitors that come into the site, browse remote jobs and then leave. And that's a great touchpoint — it's building visibility and awareness for these types of remote roles, which many STARs have never had access to previously. But what we are seeing is that, to have the highest level of impact, we can’t just present a job board. We need to help people understand what the career trajectory looks like for a particular role, what skills or training may be needed to land the role, and what support may be needed going into that type of position in a fully remote capacity,” she explained.

SkillUp’s resources are designed to be flexible and fit within an individual's busy lifestyle. Training programs are offered at no cost or low cost to participants and can typically be completed in a short amount of time. As they scale and expand, SkillUp uses labor market intelligence to understand which careers and industries are most in-demand and to uncover areas of opportunity. They continuously monitor pay to ensure that roles meet living wage standards. Moving forward, Jewell emphasized that SkillUp will continue to prioritize quality and maintenance as well as scalability.

“The remote job catalog brings STARs into our platform who we can now better serve and connect to more opportunities for success,” she said. “Individuals may come in just looking for remote jobs that don't require a degree but ultimately gain access to a comprehensive platform that can help them along the pathway to a high-opportunity career.”

Return on Investment

105x ROI

This project is estimated to increase annual earnings by $12,879 per person, for a total additional lifetime earnings of $385,965 per person

Total lifetime earnings increase across all participants: $164,421,123

$400,000 invested