Training will save the American economy!

According to a recent report by University of California (San Diego) faculty, training and re-training the American workforce will save America’s economy. Ok, they didn’t exactly say that – but it was close! 

According to one of the authors of the report, Henry DeVries, “Federal support for training initiatives, and incentives for companies to offer them, is crucial. Unless we fully commit to retraining our country then our businesses do not have much of a future," he says. "People have to understand that this is not their grandfather's high school- or college-based economy. There is a growing disconnect between the types of jobs that employers need to fill and the number of Americans with the right education and training. The only thing constant is change. The economy is going to keep changing, and people are going to need to keep adapting." 

He cites the welding industry as one example. Due to recent advancements in technology, which many older welders are not apprised of, there are currently 100,000 welding jobs going unfilled in America.  One surprising finding of their study and report, is that the jobs that have gone away the last few years are NOT coming back. 

The problem, as DeVries sees it, is that "there is a job gap, in that people who are thrown out of industries like construction and retail and finance, don't have the skills for where jobs are being created through innovation – such as green jobs or IT jobs.  There are plenty of jobs available in America, there just aren't the properly skilled employees to fill them, he says.