Hello SCCDA members and friends!
Greetings as we head into the hottest months of the year, but also the ones when many memories are made. I am humbled to serve as your SCCDA president for 2022-23, and look forward to growing the organization in numbers and in opportunities for professional development. 

My first act as president will be to publicly acknowledge Aimee Carter’s service as president before me for not one, but two years. So thank you to Aimee, who carried SCCDA through with skill and heart. And she did so during an unprecedented time of uncertainty.

The pandemic has been a silent shadow with all of us since 2020. But what impact did it really have on our clients, our students, and the workforce? There is anecdotal evidence in abundance, as students and adults have spent critical developmental years in the virtual environment without hands-on learning or in-person social interaction.

Generation Z, in particular, seems to be disproportionately affected. According to an Indeed.com survey, 82% of Generation Z said they have never worked in an in-person office environment full time. Of that percentage, 85 percent said they worry that they are at a disadvantage when it comes to learning professional “soft skills”

A new partnership between the SC Department of Commerce, SC Competes, and Tallo tackles a portion of that question with four available assessments to better identify skills gaps for long term career retention of Generation Z workforce.

The new pilot resource is available for 16- to 24-year-olds who have been negatively impacted by COVID (and really, who hasn’t?). Four assessments are available to gauge knowledge in five core professional competencies: Communication, Drive for Results, Customer Service, Adaptability and Critical Thinking. These four assessments are in: General Employability, Manufacturing Employability, IT Employability and Healthcare Employability. They take clients/students roughly 20-25 minutes and include an individualized report on where they stand in that industry and competency compared to their peers. 

This tool is free until September 15, 2022. If you have clients or know of individuals in this age range, this is a great resource to dive into those skill gaps and create remedies before they enter the workforce.

With efforts like these, South Carolina can surely make the most of every talent we have! To access the assessments or to learn more, please visit: corescoresc.com 

Brenda Gardner, MPA, GCDF
SC Department of Commerce
SCCDA President | 2022-2023