You know it is serious that when a politician starts with the topic, jobs. Jobs boost the economy, bring confidence to employees to spend on goods, and help growth. The problem is there are not a lot of jobs out there and the field is limited to mostly tech and cubicle jobs. There are many different theories as to why the unemployment rate is above 9%, but there are many more questions on how to solve it. Here are the most popular answers from experts:
Create More Jobs
It is easy to say that you’re willing to provide jobs; it is hard to execute them. In my opening, politicians mention jobs because not only it is an important issue; it gives them points heading up to signing a bill or for elections. Politicians can say they can create more jobs, but in reality the can create more government/government contracting jobs and that’s it. Jobs are basically in sole discretion with the private sector if they someone or not. Businesses can decide to create jobs if the environment fits their bottom line. Even if businesses create jobs, will the position last for a long time? With new technology coming out quicker and global competition, jobs can be shifted or be eliminated at any time. Although having a job is fine for now, the long-term ramifications could be damaging if you don’t adopt or pick up the pace to the changing environment.
Training
I always preach training inside your business so they can keep up the pace on current trends and how they can adapt with these new tools. Paul DeBettignies points out in his post the benefits of training and tend to agree businesses need more internships and apprenticeships, and to adapt. Then again, the same thing as creating jobs, training only works with the resources given and it has a small payoff as only it can prolong their job until something new comes in that people need to retrain again on the newest thing, which takes a lot of resources (money, time).
Education
This is where, to me, is the primary reason there are not enough skilled workers working in the workforce. Part of it is cause of our school system being broken as funding in that area gets cut. Some argue the diverse (race, to be specific) workforce could be a cause because of the language barrier. However, the main factor of why education is the leading cause of the shortage of skilled workers is from an article that SAT reading scores are at its lowest in four decades. I don’t specifically blame teachers, the school system, or politicians for the low scores…everyone should share the blame.
The real problem is we haven’t teach to others why the subject matter is important. Let me take an example of a simple phrase, “being green.” For some, it means the environment, but for others, it could mean paint yourself green or surround yourself with green materials, or make money. This is why some people have trouble defining “net neutrality” or “broadband” because some or most have no idea what it is, even politicians. That is why comprehension is important to have workers and the unemployed understand why they business made these changes and they can get behind the meaning. I think the “skills gap” is more about people going way ahead on their field, and then telling us this is important, instead of why this is important. We, as individuals, forget to tell them why they should need to learn this stuff.
You don’t need a degree to understand, just have a network surround you to keep up what’s going on. Of course, the difficulty is each individuals’ comprehension is different. Some can comprehend very quickly, some can comprehend in the next year, but for others, it might take them a long time to get it or not. Education won’t solve all the problems since it varies from each person, but it could resolve why job seekers need to step up their game.
Conclusion
Creating jobs is a great way to boost the economy, but only for the short-term. Training can enhance an employee/job seeker skill set, but only for so long. Educating our workers and job seekers the meaning for the changes should help them with the purpose of the job. What I mean by educating, I don’t mean spending money on courses, but we can teach others, who are in need, on their field. No sound bytes or snippets; give them an explanation why these changes are important. It is up to them they’re content where they are or they’re willing learn and develop these new skills.
People have to realize the world is on a very fast pace that we have new technologies every day it seems, global competition where companies can outsource to save money, and our environment is making us feel we are in a rush with a variety of options. It seems that we don’t have enough time educating others, but that’s the conundrum we’re facing: do we want everything in the short-term with jobs and training or we look long-term and teach kids and our peers about what’s going on? To that, I don’t know if there’s a right answer based on who you ask.
