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| SKILLS GAP SOLUTIONS-FROM SMARTWORKFORCESTRATEGIES | |
| | | | | Manpower Global Talent Shortage Study 2014 | For the third consecutive year, Japanese employers report the highest level of talent shortage—more than four out of five employers are struggling to fill open jobs. However, this clearly remains a
pervasive issue around the globe, with Peruvian, Indian, Brazilian, Turkish and Argentinian employers
also reporting acute shortages. During the past 12 months, the problem has worsened in 10
countries, most notably Latin American nations. At the other end of the spectrum, employers in
Ireland and Spain—two countries that have borne the brunt of the Eurozone recession and endured
consistently weak labor markets—report the least difficulty filling jobs.level of talent shortage—
more than four out of five employers are struggling to fill open jobs. However, this clearly remains a
pervasive issue around the globe, with Peruvian, Indian, Brazilian, Turkish and Argentinian employers
also reporting acute shortages. During the past 12 months, the problem has worsened in 10
countries, most notably Latin American nations. At the other end of the spectrum, employers in
Ireland and Spain—two countries that have borne the brunt of the Eurozone recession and endured
consistently weak labor markets—report the least difficulty filling jobs. (Figure 1) [More] | | |
 Manpower Global Talent Shortage Study 2014 |   |
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| |  | | | Employers Aren’t Just Whining – the “Skills Gap” Is Real - James Bessen - Harvard Business Review | Every year, the Manpower Group, a human resources consultancy, conducts a worldwide “Talent Shortage Survey.” Last year, 35% of 38,000 employers reported difficulty filling jobs due to lack of available talent; in the U.S., 39% of employers did. But the idea of a “skills gap” as identified in this and other surveys has been widely criticized. Peter Cappelli asks whether these studies are just a sign of “employer whining;” Paul Krugman calls the skills gap a “zombie idea” that “that should have been killed by evidence, but refuses to die.” The New York Times asserts that it is “mostly a corporate fiction, based in part on self-interest and a misreading of government data.” According to the Times, the survey responses are an effort by executives to get “the government to take on more of the costs of training workers.”
Really? A worldwide scheme by thousands of business managers to manipulate public opinion seems far-fetched. Perhaps the simpler explanation is the better one: many employers might actually have difficulty hiring skilled workers.
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| |  | | | Smart Grid: How utilities can solve the aging workforce dilemma | Currently, there is a disproportionate number of aging workers nearing retirement, but there also is a declining pool of college graduates equipped with the skills needed to maintain progress and innovate in the smart grid sector. 72 percent of energy employers are having difficulty finding quality candidates to fill their positions, as they grapple with an aging workforce and a growing skills shortage.
Unfortunately, over the last 20 years, many utilities have not prioritized developing or expanding their workforce. Many factors contributed to this, including the fact that historically, utility employees will often stay with one company throughout their career, making utilities less prepared to handle sudden rapid turnover. When utilities lack workers with the necessary expertise, the challenges they face become even more difficult.
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| |  | | | Skills Gap Bumps Up Against Vocational Taboo - WSJ | | The Obama administration and governors from Michigan to North Carolina have a solution for some of the U.S. manufacturing sector's woes: German-style apprenticeship programs. The problem? American firms are reluctant to buy in. | DAVID
Focuses on reluctance of US firms to take on apprenticeship programs |
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| |  | | | STEM Index - US News | | A U.S. News exclusive measure of science, technology, engineering and mathematics activity in the U.S. | | |
| |  | | | How to Combat the Manufacturing Skills Gap | | American's manufacturers are increasingly challenged to find the skilled workers they need to fill good jobs. As more and more "Baby Boomers" retire, we need to address this issue if we want to keep the manufacturing engine going and growin... | | |
| |  | | | Is the key to closing the STEM skills gap higher salaries? - FedScoop | | The federal government faces a continued challenge to lure science, technology, engineering and mathematics workers away from the perk-heavy private sector. However, a trio of agencies recognized last week that human capital officers are underutilizing their authority to do something so simple in recruiting STEM candidates: offer them more money. | | |
| |  | | | Report offers roadmap for tackling skills gap in petrochemical industry - Pennenergy | JPMorgan Chase & Co. has released its Houston Skills Gap Report, which lays out a specific roadmap to address the mismatch between the needs of local employers and the skills of current job seekers. The report was released at theGreater Houston Partnership’s UpSkill Houston Workforce Summit on Nov. 12.
Specifically, the report provides a comprehensive look at available middle-skill jobs in the petrochemical and industrial/commercial construction industries. It offers data-driven steps that private-sector employers, city policy makers, community colleges, and training providers can take to fill these critical, good-paying jobs.
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| | | | | Bridge the Gap: Rebuilding America's Middle Skills --HBS/Accenture Study | Economists, policymakers, labor unions, business leaders, and the media have all documented the mismatch in skills from their unique perspectives and offered solutions. Yet despite years of debate, America’s skills gap—especially for solid, middle-skills jobs associated in the popular mind with the American dream—refuses to shrink. Why is this so? Why don’t employers, educators, and potential employees take more decisive steps to end this misalignment? Who should take the lead in bridging the gap?
To probe these complex questions, the Harvard Business School launched a research initiative in 2013 in partnership with Accenture and Burning Glass Technologies. The three partners shared a common interest in trying to shed new light on the causes of the skills gap and, specifically, the role business could play in closing it.
[More] | DAVID
This is an important, broad scope report on solutions at a strategic level |
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David DeLong
