At the Wall Street Journal James Freeman notes:
The number of job openings in the United States is at an all-time high, and a new report due out today shows American businesses of all sizes trying to find the workers they need to meet the demands of a rising economy. ManpowerGroup surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. employers and finds that 46% report difficulty filling jobs. “Skilled trade workers, sales representatives and drivers remain the hardest roles to fill,†according to the Milwaukee-based staffing company.
“Most of the jobs where demand is growing are mid-skilled roles such as electricians, welders and mechanics that require training, yet not always a four-year college degree,†reports Manpower Group, adding:
Although unemployment remains low, there are millions of workers on the edge of the U.S. labor market. Companies are bringing in workers from the sidelines to fill talent gaps and 40% are looking at different talent pools for skills including boomerang retirees, long-term unemployed or returning parents and part-timers.
Over the period of the last several decades public funding for vocational training has plummeted while funding for higher education has soared. That didn’t reflect demand. It reflected the prejudice of lawmakers, mostly lawyers themselves, in favor of people like themselves.
Big money for higher education while eliminating vocational training from public high schools is an egregious instance of picking winners and losers. People who go to college are winners; everybody else is a loser.
But at least half of Americans and possibly as many as two-thirds simply aren’t college material. They aren’t interested in what college has to offer; they aren’t prepared for what they will need to do in college; they don’t have the skills or abilities to succeed.
Additionally, you need to look deeper into those “Help Wanted” ads. Employers aren’t just looking for skills; they’re looking for five or seven or ten years of experience but not fifteen or twenty. You can train someone to be a welder or an electrician but you can’t put someone through a few weeks or months of training and have them emerge with five years of experience in their newly-learned skill.
Human beings aren’t like drill presses or welding stations. You can’t just bring them online when you need them and put them on the shelf when you don’t.
I mentioned awhile back that we had a catastrophic event at one of our companies. Complete destruction of the plant. Because of the issue of hard to find vocational skill workers we have kept many individuals on the payroll despite it being clear yet we will even be able to rebuild. The costs will soon approach a half million dollars.
I need experienced maintenance and machine operators, not graduates in women’s studies, philosophy or the history of Northern Africa and it’s effects on gender identification in the workplace.
Yep. That’s exactly my point. Companies need to be prepared to do that sort of thing.
It’s extremely difficult to do when you are fighting for every dollar you can (for rebuilding and funding losses issues) just to survive. Further, it can bring fiduciary duty issues into play. Many (most) people don’t appreciate that aspect. It’s not a black and white issue.
Our decision illustrates the dramatic and acute nature of the problem.
Whole situation makes my heart glad. Been too many years of enduring management incentive program for workers called “Work or be Fired!”