Milwaukee based company starts job skills program in Madison

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – A company based in Milwaukee is taking applications for its first Madison cohort of people to learn job skills and connect with employers for free.

Cole Shearer, a partner at Gener8tor, says those in the cohort will be matched with a career coach who will teach them job skills, but additionally work on concrete items like resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Their goal is to help those in the workforce find jobs.

“Really at the core of what we’re doing is we’re making sure that job seekers who typically might not have access to programs like ours, the education system, workforce system that we consider hidden talent, hidden workers,” Shearer said. “We really will focus on making sure that they are able to join the program.”

Gener8tor representatives say they have a focus on underemployed people, women and racial minorities.

Data from the Department of Labor Statistics from 2022 found that women make up less than half of total employed people in the United States. And 77% of employed people are White, with only 12.6% Black employees, 18.5% Hispanic or Latino and 6.7% Asian employees.

The program is free, and Shearer says that they have helped thousands of people get jobs right out of Gener8tor over the years. The program has existed throughout the United States for three years, but this is the first time it will be in Madison.

Shearer says they are excited every time a graduate of Gener8tor has success.

“And still at a thousand jobs, every single one that comes through our team just gets so, so excited, regardless of the location, the role,” Shearer said. “We just go and celebrate as a team because we accomplished what we were looking at doing.”

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