DiscoverYour Skills

Public Affairs Job Skills Initiative Overview

Discover Your Skills Overview

  • Multimedia public affairs campaign designed to address the growing decline in US skilled labor by providing unemployed and underemployed Americans with access to critical resources for obtaining marketable job skills and expertise, and to raise awareness of career opportunities.
  • Leverages Discovery’s unique position as nonfiction media company dedicated to informing, engaging and enlightening with credible and respected on-air talent, many of whom are not just television personalities, but also successful professionals working in critical areas of the economy.
  • Partnering with Skills for America’s Future, a non-partisan partnership of businesses and community collegeswith a mission to address the dual problems of unemployment and the difficulty many employers face in finding workers with the right skills, of which Discovery Communications President and CEO David Zaslav serves on Advisory Board.
  • Includes an online resource providing links and information to help educate, prepare and advance entry to the workforce, developed in collaboration with Skills For America’s Future and the US Departments of Education and Labor.
  • Part of Discovery Impact, which leverages the power of Discovery's brands, businesses and employees to give back and make a direct impact on the communities in which we live and work. For more information, visit

Public Service Announcement (PSA) Campaign

  • Discovery networks' on-air personalities participating in on- and off-air programs and events to raise awareness of career opportunities and highlight the importance of training workers to fill these critical jobs.
  • Eight ‘Discover Your Skills’ PSAs, featuring Mike Rowe of Discovery Channel’s DIRTY JOBS WITH MIKE ROWE, Buddy Valastro of TLC’s CAKE BOSS and Jeannette Torres from Discovery Familia, begin airing across Discovery’s US networks on August 29.

Montgomery College Partnership

  • Partnership with community college in Discovery’s home state of Maryland, where it employs approximately 1,500 people, focused on better preparing students with the necessary skills to take advantage of today's job opportunities.
  • Include internships, guest lecturers, resume development and other programs designed to prepare students with marketable job skills.

Statistics on Skilled Labor Shortage

  • In February 2011, there were over 204,000 open manufacturing jobs and 453,000 open trade, transportation and utilities jobs in the US, according to US Department of Labor.
  • By 2012, it is estimated the US will have a shortage of three million skilled workers, according to an August 12, 2010 CBS Evening News report titled, Skilled Labor Shortage Frustrates Employers.