Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook and IBM Corp. Chairman Ginni Rometty launched the "Find Something New" ad campaign with the White House on Tuesday, encouraging Americans to retrain or seek new job opportunities and employers to loosen degree requirements in favor of skills-based hiring.
The private sector campaign, backed by The Ad Council and a coalition of business supporters, promotes education and training opportunities for students and adults across the U.S. as the coronavirus pandemic has left millions out of work and Congress prepares for negotiations on a new round of aid.
Ivanka Trump, a senior aide to and a daughter of President Donald Trump, joined Cook and Rometty in a virtual roundtable event Tuesday. Ivanka Trump co-chairs the White House's American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and has spearheaded its "Pledge to America's Workers" program, in which firms make non-binding commitments to train staff.
"We should encourage a college education, of course, and we do celebrate it," Ivanka Trump said during the webinar. "But we have to stop telling students and workers that this is the only viable option."
Increasing the pathways to new careers will also help mid- and late-career workers, in a push that predates the pandemic, she added. "Now, as a result of covid, people need to, unfortunately, in some cases learn a completely new skill, but that is also an opportunity to be put on a new trajectory," Ivanka Trump said.
The initiative was swiftly criticized on social media, with some suggesting the effort is insensitive during a pandemic and the widespread unemployment it has caused. Others criticized the involvement of Ivanka Trump.
The Ad Council launched the initiative Tuesday. Funding for the ad campaign is provided by 20 organizations including Apple, IBM, The Home Depot Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp. and others. There's no federal funding for the initiative.
Among the "rising careers" listed by the initiative is "contact tracer," workers who alert people who come in contact with an infectious disease -- like the coronavirus -- and help them get the care they need.
The campaign's initial 30-second spot features people talking about their experiences with career challenges and transitions. Among them are a fitness instructor who completed an apprenticeship program and became a welder after her gym went under, and a man who lost his job twice in one year, took online certification courses and now works as a tech consultant.
"I got laid off twice, but you got to keep going," the man says, adding later on in the ad: "I'm now a consultant in the tech space."
Another woman says she had no career plan after finishing high school, but "I found a medical course online" and became a phlebotomist. "You will find something," she says.
The digital transformation of the economy was already spurring the need for people to develop new skills, a problem exacerbated by the pandemic, Rometty said.
"We believe that, with the right tools, people have the power to change their lives and the lives of their families for the better," Cook said during the webinar. It will take a joint effort by business, labor leaders, educational institutions and governments, he said.
The companion website offers links to education and training options, including online and virtual learning.
Additional ads are expected to be produced. All will appear nationwide across TV, digital and print platforms in time and space donated by various media companies, the Ad Council said.
Funding was provided by more than 20 corporations and organizations, including Apple, IBM and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The Ad Council declined to disclose the cost of the campaign, which will run at least through the end of the year.
Information for this article was contributed by Josh Wingrove and Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg News and by Darlene Superville of The Associated Press.