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Mark Wray was working at a movie theater’s concession stand when the pandemic lockdowns began last year. The cinema closed and he lost his job.

But instead of looking for another low-paying job, Mr. Wray sought a different route. He found a program that taught basic technology and business skills, completed the program, and landed a job at a fast-growing online mortgage lender. He started working in the customer service and technical support department in March. He earns about $55,000 a year, compared to $17,000 in movies.

“The pandemic was oddly an opportunity,” said Mr. Wray, 25, a high school graduate and living in Charlotte, NC. “And this job is a huge stepping stone for me.”

People returning to the workforce after the pandemic expect more from their employers, forcing companies to increase wages, offer bonuses and improve their health and education plans. Paychecks are growing. Wages rose strongly in July, up 4 percent from the previous year, according to the Department of Labor. For those working in entertainment and hospitality businesses, wages increased by about 10 percent.

Yet many workers are looking for something else: a career path, not a dead-end job.

In recent months, companies have struggled to fill jobs for tasks like waiting at the table, stocking shelves or flipping burgers. About 40 percent of former workers in the country’s hospitality industry say they do not plan to return to work in hotels, restaurants or bars. A survey by Joblist, a job search engine.

For many workers, it’s more about finding a job with a brighter future than bargaining for more money in a tight labor market.

“People who work for low wages say, ‘I’m going to move on to something better,'” said Stuart Andreason, the company’s director. Workforce and Economic Opportunity Center At the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Their demands are already reshaping company policies. Major employers of low-wage hourly workers, including Walmart, Chipotle, and Amazon, have announced improvements to their learning and training programs. Even Amazon, which has huge turnover among workers in its warehouses, has started talking more about helping to improve the long-term prospects of its employees.

Some companies are highlighting their newfound or growing commitment to worker development to attract job applicants. According to Emsi Burning Glass, a labor market analysis firm, employer job postings for positions that do not require four-year degrees included the term “career advancement” 35 percent more frequently from March to July than during the same period two years ago. “Education” was mentioned 32 percent more frequently.

If the new emphasis is persistent and pervasive, it will be a significant change in corporate behavior. Companies, except for those at the very top, often saw workers as a cost to be cut rather than an asset that would become increasingly valuable through investment. Training programs were shortened and career ladders were lowered.

One measure of workers’ higher expectations is the increase in interest and applications reported by large nonprofits such as: Year Up, Per School and NPower, with decades of education and experience finding good jobs, especially for underrepresented groups. All expanding.

Mr. Wray is a college graduate. merit america, a newer nonprofit that started in 2018. Merit America is on track to reach more than 1,400 students this year, up from 500 last year.

How big the opportunity will be for struggling workers may depend on corporate America’s hiring and promotion practices overhaul, experts say. For example, companies have long used the requirement of a four-year college degree as a blind screening tool for many well-paid jobs. Yet nearly two-thirds of American workers do not have a four-year degree – and nearly 80 percent of Hispanic and nearly 70 percent of Black workers do not.

Workplace experts say the college degree filter isn’t a good indicator of success for many jobs.

This view gained much more attention and support after calls for social and racial justice following the murder of George Floyd last year. Hundreds of companies have pledged to diversify their workforces. We will see if action will be taken after these statements and commitments.

But people who have worked in workforce development for decades say they’ve seen evidence of real change. In the past, companies have often accused the education system of producing enough qualified people of color to hire, said Elyse Rosenblum, founder and managing director of Grads of Life, who advises businesses on inclusive hiring practices.

“But now companies are increasingly looking internally and taking ownership of this challenge,” said Ms Rosenblum. “It’s a completely different stance.”

Experts say the support of business leaders, who control budgets and hiring decisions, is vital.

An executive in this role at Bank of America is David Reilly, who manages technology for banking and market operations worldwide. Mr. Reilly grew up in London’s East End, did not attend university and got his start in technology working the night shift at a London computer center, loading data storage disks and cleaning the printer.

He demonstrated an aptitude for the job, and one promotion followed another, leading to senior positions at Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley. He joined Bank of America ten years ago.

Mr Reilly said his career was “blessed by people willing to give me a chance”.

At Bank of America, Mr. Reilly has helped support efforts to develop upwardly mobile career paths. Bank employees volunteer thousands of hours a year to give recruits and consultants without a college degree. This effort also includes regular conversations with managers about next steps in a career.

Since 2018, through partnerships with nonprofits like NPower and Year Up, as well as community colleges, the bank has recruited more than 10,000 workers from low- and middle-income neighborhoods.

Carolina Ferreira held low-paying jobs as a restaurant hostess and preschool teacher’s assistant before embarking on a four-month program in basic technology skills at NPower. A technical support internship at Bank of America in 2017 was enough.

The internship followed a contract job followed by a full-time position. He is currently a technical support analyst at the commodity trading desk and earns over $80,000 a year. “I’m still pretty young, but this has been a big step for me,” said Ms Ferreira, 26, who lives in Queens.

Bank of America has close ties to educational programs that focus on developing the potential of people like Ashantee Franklin.

Ms. Franklin, 24, lost her job at a dog grooming and walking service after Covid-19 struck last year. Decided to turn setback into an opportunity, she applied to the NPower program and completed the four-month course.

The dog daycare had just reopened and Ms. Franklin was walking the dogs when an NPower job placement coordinator called for an opening in an entry-level program at Bank of America. He applied, was successful in the interviews and was accepted. “I decided that my time as a dog sitter was over,” she said.

Ms. Franklin, who lives in Brooklyn, joined Bank of America in June as a contract technology business analyst. His starting salary was less than $20,000, nearly double what he’s earned in past years.

promoting upward mobility in corporate America, OneTena coalition of companies committed to hiring or promoting one million Black Americans family jobs for the next ten years.

The coalition started in Decemberr increased to three dozen companies and 54. These are major employers, including Accenture, AT&T, American Express, Bank of America, Cisco, Cleveland Clinic, Delta Air Lines, IBM, Merck, Target, Verizon, and Walmart.

OneTen sees its role as managing various players in the labor market, sharing best practices and measuring results. It encourages recruiting based on skills rather than degrees. The group also supports training programs based on completion and job placement rates. Two dozen have been confirmed so far.

Digital skills are becoming an increasingly important tool in a range of business occupations and career paths, such as jobs in sales, marketing, customer service and operations.

Mr Wray, who works for BetterAn online mortgage lender is an example. Received technical support certification in the Merit America program. But her current role at Better is truly customer service, helping potential borrowers navigate online forms, communicate via live chat.

Mr. Wray said the goal of technical training at Merit America is to “learn enough so you can learn on the job.”

The next career steps at Better could be to become a credit counselor, a credit processor or, technically, perhaps a network administrator.

One thing he’s learned is mortgage loans – how they work and the many options. “Charming,” said Mr. Wray. “And now I’m actually on my way to buying a house at a point where I’ve never been before.”