
Once upon a time, children were asked: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Across the life course, people need different things to successfully navigate a rapidly changing economy. From conversations with middle schoolers around what the future of work could look like to mid-life career shifts, efforts to retain experienced workers and people of all ages seeking flexibility in their employment options - WMHT will share job seeking stories from across the lifespan in a new series - Work in Progress.

Finding Your Career Path with Ikigai
Tech Valley High School students use the 'ikigai' concept to explore career paths.

PBS Learning media
Finding Your Career Path with Ikigai Lesson One
Explore the four principles of Ikigai in this lesson that is crafted to support students as they closely examine their interests, skills, and talents through metacognition and writing activities.

PBS Learning media
Finding Your Career Path with Ikigai Lesson Two
In this lesson, students review the principles of Ikigai and insights gained from lesson one to conduct a online research activity aimed at analyzing potential career options.
Explore the Series
VET S.T.E.P.: Military to Microelectronics
Discover a program that trains veterans for jobs in the semiconductor industry.
How Middle Schoolers Learn Professional Skills for Life
Middle schoolers learn professional skills in career and technical education classes.
Diversifying the Skilled Trades Workforce in Albany
A program in Albany's South End is expanding opportunities for working in construction.
PBS LearningMedia Resources

What is a Semiconductor? | MIT's Science Out Loud
Semiconductors are in everything from your cell phone to rockets. But what exactly are they, and what makes them so special? Find out from Jamie, a Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT.
Career Connections | Construction Worker
Meet a construction worker who followed his father’s footsteps into a rewarding career operating large equipment like bulldozers. Hear about how he feels about being able to see what he has created.

E-Business | Jeffrey Bezos
Hear about the flexibility of the internet and its shaping by new technologies and decreasing costs in these early years of development, from Jeffrey Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com. The rise of the Internet has provided a new market for North Dakota businesses. With shopping at a store now being as easy as typing in a web address, distance from consumers is becoming less of an issue in the business world.

The Future of Work was the first chapter of our ongoing investigation into the changing landscape of work raising critical questions and explores compelling diverse individual experiences. Hear from expert perspectives to help us understand what the future holds for the U.S. workforce and why that matters in today’s world. Is the right to work a human right? Is the future of work about entrenched haves and have-nots? What are the merits of college vs. training programs in preparing for the jobs of tomorrow? How do we protect and preserve employment opportunities that sustain families, communities, and the nation -- fundamental aspects of the American Dream?
WMHT's exploration of the Future of Work explores these and other questions with profiles of millennial, single-parent and other workers, in addition to leading economic, employment, training and technology experts.
2021-2022 PROJECT PARTNERS
Workforce Development Institute
Hudson Valley Community College
Questar III BOCES
PHI
Capital Region Workforce Development Board
New YorK Association of Training and Employment (NYATEP)
MAPP
Rural Migrant Ministry
LifeWorks
Young Futures
Mission Accomplished
Sunhee's Farm and Kitchen
New York State Migrant Education Program
Capital Region BOCES
WSWHE BOCES
Expertise Project
Schenectady County Community College
Stockade Works
L&K Consulting and Development, LLC
Fyfe Consulting
Libby Coreno, Esq.
Dr. Kerry Murray O’Hara, Psy.D.
The Future of Work Town Hall
We discuss workplace and workforce changes, equity and inclusion & creating quality jobs.









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