Is America Losing Its Competitive Edge?

A new survey released by my Business Roundtable committee, Project Springboard, reveals that the United States is at risk of losing its competitive edge and American workers’ economic potential by not addressing business’ growing demand for a better educated and better trained workforce. American workers’ unmet need for further education and training is exacerbating today’s unemployment problem and portending long-term trouble for workers and businesses – even after the economy recovers.

The survey shows a glaring and growing need for workers with higher levels of skills and credentials, sharply contrasted with employers’ modest efforts to provide training and workers’ reluctance to pursue education and training because of serious obstacles holding them back. Key findings include:

• Employers expect to see an increased need for a better skilled workforce, with 65 percent of employers surveyed saying they will require an associate’s degree or higher for most positions.
• Looking ahead four years, employers say their greatest need will be workers with more
  technical skills, higher degrees or certifications, and improved skills or better qualifications.
• Half of employers say they currently have such a serious gap between their needs and employees’ skills that it affects their productivity.
• Eight in ten workers – regardless of income or education level – show keen interest in pursuing further training and education.
• The majority of workers say they would be very likely to pursue training or education if the obstacles they face could be overcome by such initiatives as programs with flexible classroom hours or enrollment periods, tuition reimbursement, online learning or programs designed and managed by local business leaders.

Participating on this committee was a terrific experience and I look forward to sharing some of our deliverables to the Obama administration with you next year!

Comments

[Lisa]

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[Jeremy]

I'm sure you are excited about the previous comment on this post ;-)

This is fantastic and ties directly into a highly relevant issue in my world...marketing...education and equally important, innovative/creative thinking. I've got some posts coming out on this soon, but though Tom Friedman (who quoted Dan Pink) nailed it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/opinion/21friedman.html

[Tom]

This reminded me of a WSJ article this morning about states lowering the testing bar for proficiency tests:

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB125682837972516125-lMyQjAxMDI5NTM2MDgzMjA4Wj.html

I think the problem is apparent when employers are demanding more skills and education than American workers possess while our educational system demands less and less of our children, the future workforce. As long as other countries provide their children with superior and more rigorous education--particularly in math and science--we will continue to need to import skilled workers from those countries.

[Alexandra Levit]

@Lisa: Thanks for the site suggestion. In the future, could you please direct these types of messages directly to me? Thanks!

@Jeremy: Thanks for sharing the Friedman piece. You know, I'm getting to know Dan Pink better these days. I admire him a great deal.

@Tom: I agree. I wish there was an easy solution. And thanks for pointing us over to our friends at the WSJ!

[Ana]

Alexandra,

This is a great article that addresses a serious issue in the American market.

We, at IvyExec.com, an online job site for highly qualified professionals, have been seeing a growing trend towards emerging markets.

In fact, 86% of our members hold and MBA from a top tier school. More and more foreign companies have been hiring from our pool resulting in emigration of highly educated American professionals.

It seems that the issue is not only education promotion, but also retention of the highly educated!

[Alexandra Levit]

@Ana: Sounds like a great resource. Thanks for sharing.

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