At SkillUp, understanding the journey of workers skilled through alternative routes (STARs) has always been at the core of our mission. For the past two years, we've conducted our regular SkillUp Pulse Survey multiple times a year with thousands of SkillUp users to capture their challenges, needs and aspirations.
Today, we’re excited to share these findings with a broader audience, showcasing the data-driven insights that have helped us become a leader in workforce development and a reliable partner to STARs. We hope that this one-of-a-kind survey in the workforce and education sector can assist more workers in transitioning to promising career paths, finding high-opportunity employment, and having their voices influence policy, programmatic and funding decisions.
To date, we have received over 10,000 survey responses, growing by more than 2,000 individuals each survey! We take great pride in our worker outreach strategy and how it enhances our users' overall platform experience.
A Real-Time, Worker-Centered Approach
Since launching in 2022, our Pulse Survey series has allowed us to track the workforce journey of 10,000+ users, capturing diverse experiences and consistent trends. The surveys reveal steady demographics and emerging challenges and help us refine program offerings in real time.
SkillUp’s longitudinal data insights, platform user success rates and individual stories show that workers increasingly desire remote job opportunities and thrive when fully supported with the right tools, resources and coaching to make confident career shifts — helping STARs realize their full potential and achieve economic advancement.
Highlights from our latest survey Fall 2024 results:
- Demographic stability: Among the cohorts, a significant majority are persons of color (66%) and female (73%), with many lacking a traditional four-year degree (76%). Only 23% reported having completed a bachelor's degree or higher.
- Top job motivators: Benefits are a priority for STARs — only 47% of respondents have health coverage in their current job, and only 44% receive paid time off.
- Job attainment success: 27% of respondents started a new or better job within the past six months, achieving an average wage increase of 29% or $10,970 — a testament to the tangible impact of SkillUp’s resources and career guidance.
- Future job aspirations: 83% of respondents plan to find a better job in the next six months, primarily motivated by higher pay (48%), career advancement opportunities (17%) and flexibility in remote work (13%).
Our worker-centered strategy is reinforced by the data we collect, ensuring that our job postings, training programs, and support services address the specific obstacles STARs face.
Expertise in Workforce Insights
Our Pulse Survey goes beyond traditional metrics by capturing the human aspects of employment — addressing the concerns, ambitions and resilience of STARs.
Users report the following as their top challenges in their job search:
- Not hearing back from employers
- Need additional skills
- Need more work experience
When asked what aspect of their life causes the most worry, users identified the following as key concerns:
- Personal finances
- Job search
- Current job situation
Despite these challenges, more than half of the surveyed workers reported that SkillUp’s resources have increased their confidence in the job search process, as well as their awareness of promising career paths and understanding and access to available training programs. 27% of respondents started a new or better job within the past six months, achieving an average wage increase of 29% or $10,970.
With this in-depth knowledge, we continue to hone our expertise in workforce trends and can provide employers with insights on supporting diverse, nontraditional talent, including the upskilling and development of current staff.
What’s Next?
By sharing our findings, we aim to create new sources to make data-backed decisions in workforce development.
We don’t just gather data — we capture a snapshot of real peoples’ experiences and convert their insights into actionable strategies to shape a workforce where every worker has a pathway to economic mobility. And we know partnership is critical in this work, so we will empower the field with our longitudinal data through regular releases and trend identification. Interested in learning more, connect with us today!
