JPMorgan Chase Announces $3.5 Million in New Commitments to Scale Apprenticeship Programs

November 13, 2023 (New York, NY) – Today, JPMorgan Chase announced new and expanded philanthropic commitments totaling $3.5 million to support the scaling and development of apprenticeship programs nationwide. These commitments expand on the firm’s broader efforts to help more people, particularly those from underserved backgrounds, enter the workforce and compete for quality careers by gaining meaningful work experience and developing crucial skills.

They include:

• $1 million to New America. This commitment will help New America scale their Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) initiative to help high school students accelerate on a pathway to a meaningful career by combining college coursework with on-the-job experience in their chosen field. The support will allow New America to bring on more partners nationally and increase youth apprenticeship opportunities in markets such as New York, Chicago, Dallas, and California.
• $1 million to WTIA Workforce Institute (Apprenti). This commitment will help Apprenti, a non-profit focused on bridging the tech talent and diversity gaps to meet evolving workforce needs, scale their program to help more individuals from underrepresented backgrounds have access to careers in high-paying technology roles. The support will also help Apprenti expand into new markets such as Houston, Dallas and Atlanta.
• $1 million to Per Scholas. This commitment will support Per Scholas to develop and pilot a new cybersecurity apprenticeship initiative, which addresses a critical labor shortage while testing a sustainable, innovative earn-and-learn approach to achieving economic mobility. This support will also help Per Scholas expand their existing suite of cybersecurity training programs to reach more learners annually, recruiting unemployed and underemployed talent from Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Newark, St. Louis and Greater Washington region.
• $500,000 to Apprenticeships for America (AFA). This commitment will help AFA promote the creation of apprenticeship programs for fast-growing sectors of the economy like technology, healthcare and financial services, among others, across the country, create a network of partners to support those efforts, and create awareness for apprenticeships as a solution to the current labor shortage and skills gap.

As technology changes the labor market and the nature of work, an estimated 12 million occupational transitions may be needed by 2030. However, there is a mismatch between the skills people have and the skills employers need. This skills mismatch could cost the global economy nearly $8.5 trillion in unrealized revenues. Expanding programs like ‘earn and learn’ apprenticeships is one way to help close the growing talent gap between the skills employers need and the skills individuals and students currently have.

Apprenticeship as a Model for Inclusive Growth

Apprenticeships are a highly effective method for helping low- and -moderate income individuals advance into well-paying employment opportunities, providing them the skills, experience and credentials that set them up for long-term career success. Today, only about 1,000 of the roughly 550,000 active Registered Apprentices nationwide are in the finance and insurance industries, leaving untapped opportunities to match skilled workers to careers in professional services. Activating the private sector to develop or scale these programs can help enable more people to take advantage of these opportunities. Since 2018, JPMorgan Chase has committed over $15 million to support the creation of apprenticeship programs nationwide and supports over 10 apprenticeship programs globally in areas such as operations, finance and technology.

“Jobs are foundational to unlocking greater economic mobility, and well-paying jobs increasingly require a combination of skills and experience that can be difficult to get in traditional education settings,” said Matthew Muench, Head of Jobs and Skills for JPMorgan Chase Global Philanthropy. “Bringing together stakeholders from the public and private sectors is key to providing the work-based learning that will help more individuals break into great careers. Supporting strategies and organizations that are scaling these programs is a critical piece of this work and helps build a stronger workforce and economy.”

Supporting Policies to Advance Apprenticeships

Alongside its business practices and philanthropic commitments, the firm is committed to advancing this work through research and data-driven policy solutions. According to new recommendations from the JPMorgan Chase PolicyCenter, a more modernized workforce development system that connects postsecondary education to the labor market needs is key for a more seamless and integrated approach to workforce development and catalyzing “earn and learn” apprenticeship models.

These recommendations, which propose updates to existing policies, lay out ways that a connected ecosystem of education, employers and workforce development programs can create a system that adequately prepares workers to take advantage of the opportunities of today and meet the challenges of tomorrow. Learn more about these recommendations here.

Statements of Support

“We’re grateful for our partnership with JPMorgan Chase to scale apprenticeship in the United States,” said Bob Lerman, Apprenticeships for America (AFA) board chair. “JPMorgan Chase’s support enables AFA to promote public policies that build a modern apprenticeship public-private ecosystem, thereby widening routes to rewarding careers for millions of workers and strengthening the competitiveness of the American economy.”

“We are incredibly grateful for this generous investment, which will increase our impact and create economic mobility for thousands of individuals in communities across the country, including an anticipated $80M generated in first-year wages for new cyber technologists historically underrepresented in the cybersecurity space. We are excited to partner with employers across the country to make this program a success and help close the cybersecurity skills gap," said Plinio Ayala, Per Scholas President and CEO.

"We are so excited to extend our relationship with JPMorgan Chase for another two years. As a continuing grant recipient, JPMorgan Chase’s investment will support the expansion of our organization and allow us to provide more diverse talent placements in more markets nationally. With a focus on sourcing, placing and training underrepresented talent into high wage, in demand tech jobs, the firm's continued investment in talent development is an exceptional example of public/private partnership needed to shift how the country defines talent,” said Jennifer Carlson, Executive Director and Co-founder of Apprenti.

“To compete for quality jobs and build careers in the economy of the future, high school students need postsecondary options that combine paid work experience and structured, low-cost pathways to degrees. Youth apprenticeship is a strategy uniquely designed to deliver both, while expanding talent pipelines for employers in a wide range of fields. Support from JPMorgan Chase will allow New America to extend the reach of the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship, a national field-building initiative fueling program innovation and policy and systems development to connect the learning needs of students with the talent needs of industry, ” said Taylor White, National Director, Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship, New America.  

Commitment to Preparing People for the Future of Work

Today’s commitment is a part of the firm’s broader, firmwide commitment to preparing more people for the future of work.

In 2019, the firm announced its $350 million, global commitment to preparing people for the future of work through skills development, mentorship and training and expanding access to economic opportunity. Through its $75 million, global career readiness initiative and existing mentorship programs like The Fellowship Initiative, the firm has demonstrated its commitment to supporting people to access promising and fruitful economic futures.

These commitments are a part of the firm’s $30 billion, five-year commitment to increase economic opportunity for underserved communities, and to drive a more inclusive economy.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America (“U.S.”), with operations worldwide. JPMorgan Chase had $3.9 trillion in assets and $317 billion in stockholders’ equity as of September 30, 2023. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.