Education Narrative Morphs: No Workers? Really?

For some time, educational reform advocates claimed reform was urgent because the U.S. will not be able to compete in the global economy. I do not see that rationale used so much anymore, but I am noticing some new ones. A few weeks ago, I listened to a radio show that focused on new initiatives and partnerships between community colleges and the manufacturing sector. In that discussion, the lack of qualified workers was mentioned. Now, I find this same narrative repeated in a Business Week article here.

"Businesses say the slow pace of education reform is hurting their bottom lines. Intel (INTC), the world’s largest semiconductor maker, is having difficulty filling 2,895 U.S.-based engineering positions, according to an Intel spokeswoman. RightNow Technologies (RNOW), which helps businesses offer online and live-chat customer service, has to burn through about 100 résumés to find one person who has the necessary math, science, and computer training. “We need reform,” says Chief Executive Officer Greg Gianforte. “Without highly educated and motivated individuals, we don’t have a future.”

Workers supporting the Space Program have been laid off in droves, across a large spectrum of skills, including engineers. University students are graduating and finding it difficult to get jobs. There are returning soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq that also represents a pool that have qualified workers to fill these positions. In 2009, Business Week reported that there is no shortage of U.S. engineers in spite of what industry leaders claim. Sorry, if RightNow Technologies has to "burn through" so many resumes, but perhaps their Human Resources Department needs to change approaches. How about the local Workforce Development Office or Hire a Hero Program? Companies must also revisit their internal training programs; those investments have fallen off dramatically. There was a strong customer support employment base before companies began to ship them overseas, which had nothing to do with supply of workers and everything to do with cheap labor costs elsewhere.

Under the current rates of high unemployment, filling current job openings is a rather cynical narrative to advocate for fast-paced education reform.

Find the earlier blog on Boosting Skilled Blue Collar Workers here. http://grumpythings.blogspot.com/2011/06/boosting-skilled-blue-collared.html

Boosting A Skilled Blue-Collared Workforce: Where are the jobs?

President Obama announced a new initiative aimed at increasing community college preparation of skilled blue-collar workers. According to the Wall Street Journal, the President is joined by the chief executive of Motorola Solutions, Inc., a co-founder of Groupon Inc., and the chairman of Accenture PLC (ACN) to help get community-college students into manufacturing jobs. No federal funding is attached to this initiative.

While driving this week, I bumped into the Diane Rehm show with a discussion on education efforts by The Manufacturing Institute, which is an affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers that hosts 12,000 manufacturing members. The institute is partnering with community colleges all across the country to take industry-recognized, nationally portable manufacturing skills credentials right into the degree programs in community colleges. Rehm interviews those involved who describe certificate programs that community college students can follow that ensure they have the skills for the manufacturing-oriented jobs that are required in their area.

You can also listen to the show here.

Read the transcript here.

Interesting comments on the show can be found here.

I was left with questions:

1) What happened to vocational education in U.S. high schools?
2) Is this a sign that manufacturers may bring back jobs that they shipped overseas?
3) With the large pool of unemployed workers, is it geography that keeps the existing talent pool remote from where the jobs are now?
4) With a reported 11% of returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan unemployed, is this not a skilled workforce to fill the manufacturing jobs? Where are these jobs?
5) With recent college grads saddled with student debt and unable to get a part time job as a dishwasher, is this not a skilled workforce? Where are these jobs?
6) With the deep layoffs from the Space Program, no doubt about it a highly skilled workforce with applicable skills, these workers are now thrown into unemployment? Where are the jobs?

While plans speed along with this community college initiative to prepare new workers for vague future opportunities to avert a workforce "crisis", are we saying that the current skilled workforce is a lost generation? I am unconvinced that high school grads and their families today should have any confidence that supports getting saddled with more student loan and debt on preparation for jobs that cannot be identified. Sorry, I don't buy this "crisis" story line. Where are all these manufacturing jobs that are going unfilled?