Skills gaps are a huge and costly problem in the corporate world. According to Talent Guard, skill gaps currently cost the U.S. economy around $13 billion per month, and Deloitte recently cited an estimated $2.5 trillion total cost over the next decade. Korn Ferry has projected that by 2030, more than 85 million jobs could go unfilled because there aren't enough skilled people to take them. Run those facts against the lagging performance of America's public schools. Children lost one-third of a school year during the pandemic shutdowns. That figure increases to half a year when you isolate math. The average math score for 13 year olds fell 9 points from 2019 to 2021, the largest drop since the federal government started tracking in 1978. In this episode of Dial P for Procurement, Kelly Barner makes the case that corporate social responsibility and public education must go hand in hand: Kids are falling behind in core areas like math and reading, something that will affect their careers and lifetime earnings, as well as future potential corporate revenues Learning loss is disproportionately impacting working class communities and communities of color, erasing the significant gains made in recent decades and jeopardizing future workforce diversity efforts There is a staggering number of children who disappeared from the roster during and after school shutdowns, creating a looming challenge for our whole society

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