Great 60 Minutes story last week on the skills gap. Excerpt:
Every month since January 2009, more than 20 million Americans have been either out of work or underemployed. Yet despite that staggering number, there are more than three million job openings in the U.S. Just in manufacturing, there are as many as 500,000 jobs that aren’t being filled because employers say they can’t find qualified workers.
It’s called “the skills gap.” How could that be, we wondered, at a time like this with so many people out of work? No place is the question more pressing than in Nevada. The state with the highest unemployment rate in the country. A place where there are jobs waiting to be filled.
And another:
Byron Pitts: Sure. So the skill gap, is it across the board? Is it at all levels? Or is it the entry level?
Ryan Costella: I would honestly say it’s probably an entry level problem. It’s those basic skill sets. Show up on time, you know, read, write, do math, problem solve. I can’t tell you how many people even coming out of higher ed with degrees who can’t put a sentence together without a major grammatical error. It’s a problem. If you can’t do the resume properly to get the job, you can’t come work for us. We’re in the business of making fasteners that hold systems together that protect people in the air when they’re flying. We’re in the business of perfection. .
And another:
Nationwide, manufacturers say the lack of skilled workers is the reason for hundreds of thousands of unfilled jobs; a number Ryan Costella says is about to get bigger.
Ryan Costella: You have a massive wave of baby boomers who are leaving the workforce very soon.
Read or watch the whole thing. (Reminds me of the open letter Mike Rowe wrote to Mitt Romney — which the Governor apparently read.)