The “Skills Gap” Was A Lie

[313WX]

https://www.vox.com/2019/1/7/1816695...shoag-ballance

Five or six years ago, everyone from the US Chamber of Commerce to the Obama White House was talking about a “skills gap.”

The theory here was that high unemployment reflected a structural shift in the labor market such that jobs were available, but workers simply didn’t have the right education or training for them. Harvard Business Review ran articles about this — including articles rebutting people who said the “skills gap” didn't exist — and big companies like Siemens ran paid sponsor content in the Atlantic explaining how to fix the skills gap...

...Now along comes a new paper from Alicia Sasser Modestino, Daniel Shoag, and Joshua Ballance presented this week at the American Economics Association’s annual conference that shows the skeptics were right all along — employers responded to high unemployment by making their job descriptions more stringent. When unemployment went down thanks to the demand-side recovery, suddenly employers got more relaxed again...

[Meddle]

No doubt those things happen, but that seems backwards. When there aren't enough jobs, you tighten up requirements, not the other way around.

[Richard]

I agree with the Siemens report,they and GE both have advanced training programs but yet are worldwide organizations,which gives them a large pool to choose from.

To me the study should be done on companies with 500 employees or less.

When you look at machine shops,fabrication,tool and die etc. the adverage workers are in their late 50s and the skills gap is real.No matter how many apply.

The rest is just par to the course,if the market is slow but you still need to hire do to a retirement etc. and you get 50 applications then you will choose the most qualified because money is tight and there is a savings aspect on the training side.

Market picks up,demand increases then you need to fill positions so standards are lowered.It has always been like that.

The Siemens report.

https://www.theatlantic.com/sponsore...kills-gap/162/

[canuck]

Yes, the Siemens report.

If you look closely at the Atlantic page you posted, it specifies that it is an advertisement, and copywritten much like a news article would be, with a reference to Benjamin Franklin to underline the US's shortcomings in the apprenticeship and employment departments.

Thyssen-Krupp, Siemens, BMW, Volkswagen, countless other companies; even Ford of Germany had some humanpower problem back in the day. They had a variety of interesting solutions, none of which involved apprenticeship, or remuneration. They just borrowed machinists and specialized laborers from conquered countries. Sorry, I'm just doing my bit of revisionism for your sake.

[Richard]

Yes, the Siemens report.

If you look closely at the Atlantic page you posted, it specifies that it is an advertisement, and copywritten much like a news article would be, with a reference to Benjamin Franklin to underline the US's shortcomings in the apprenticeship and employment departments.

Thyssen-Krupp, Siemens, BMW, Volkswagen, countless other companies; even Ford of Germany had some humanpower problem back in the day. They had a variety of interesting solutions, none of which involved apprenticeship, or remuneration. They just borrowed machinists and specialized laborers from conquered countries. Sorry, I'm just doing my bit of revisionism for your sake.

My bad,I just assumed because it was called the Siemens report that it would be clear as to who sponsored it.

It does not subtract from the fact that apprenticeship programs work.

We have not conquered Canada yet but the medical staff seems to want to jump borders and work in the US for our much published none livable wage country as do many other citizens from other countries.

I guess if one has never tried to hire skilled labor it is easy to not understand the whole concept or try to look for solutions,then there are others that would actually perfer others to remain at the bottom to make them look better or easier to control.

[Meddle]

Am I the only one who remembers when corporations recruited kids out of high school into internships to groom them for a lifetime career in their industry?


They didn't rely on kids going to college or trade schools hoping they just might learn something useful. They taught them what they needed to know to become an asset to the company for years to come. Of course it didn't always work out, but many people retired from their first job out of school.

Now it seems like people jump jobs more often than some change their socks.