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The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a current unemployment rate of around 9%. So how is it with roughly 12.8 million people out of work, there are still so many jobs going unfilled? A recent report by Deloitte for the Manufacturing Institute which was based on a survey of manufacturers, found that as many as 600,000 jobs are going unfilled. “High unemployment is not making it easier to fill positions, particularly in the areas of skilled production and production support,” the Deloitte report found. There is a growing talent gap between skilled jobs in the trades and trained...

If you’re paying attention to the U.S.’s economic recovery, you’ll probably know that there are about 11 million unemployed citizens and strong disagreements about how to create more jobs. What you may not know is that there are actually four million open jobs waiting to be filled, and that American businesses could be filling more of those jobs – if they better utilized technology. When it comes to this mismatch between unemployment numbers and vacant jobs, blame is cast in all directions: Job seekers are unwilling to move cities or work in unfamiliar positions; Employers are holding out for the...

In Emma Lazarus’s 1883 poem The New Colossus, the United States offers a “world-wide welcome” to the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” One suspects that, were the poem written today, it would be rather more prosaic. “The golden door,” Lazarus might surmise, is open principally to those who happen to have a family member in the country or are fortunate at lotteries. When discussing any aspect of immigration policy, politicians shrewdly chatter on about “skills.” An immigrant “inventor” — of which there is an apparently unlimited supply — will create manufacturing jobs for the natives; a STEM graduate...

Pete Rossi can count on one hand the number of weeks out of the year that he works more than 50 hours. But the rest of the year, his job as an actuary with the Department of Defense, provides a good living with a minimum of stress. That partly explains why actuaries have the best job in the United States, according to a new survey by CareerCast.com that will be released Tuesday. Biomedical engineer was No. 2 and software engineer, the top job of 2012, came in at No.3. Careers that ranked the lowest included enlisted military personnel, lumberjack and...

Everybody's heard the complaints about recruiting lately. Even with unemployment hovering around 9%, companies are grousing that they can't find skilled workers, and filling a job can take months of hunting. Employers are quick to lay blame. Schools aren't giving kids the right kind of training. The government isn't letting in enough high-skill immigrants. The list goes on and on. But I believe that the real culprits are the employers themselves. With an abundance of workers to choose from, employers are demanding more of job candidates than ever before. They want prospective workers to be able to fill a role...

Our children’s opportunities to learn based on technological advances has been more than offset by the loss of appreciation of literature and the humanities – including history, theology, philosophy and even economics. Our old friend Jon T. Barton, a classical violinist wrote an 800 page 2 volume work called “The Bible in Western Literature.” He co-authored with attorney John Whitehead a 1981 book, “Schools on Fire” – a prophetic work warning of the now deplorable and unnecessarily expensive condition of American education. I met a young man recently with a degree in “Environmental Studies” from screwball UCal/Santa Cruz, home of...

As each month’s unemployment figures show only modest declines, some may mistakenly believe that the United States has a “jobs crisis.” But a closer analysis of the data reveals that our fundamental challenge is a lack of skills, not jobs. I made this observation at the recent STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Summit convened by the Daily News. But don’t take my word for it. Look at the January 2013 New York City Real Time Jobs Report, which lists local employers that posted the most new ads in the past 90 days and the number of opportunities available. The...

In September, 238,000 American jobs went unfilled, despite employers’ best efforts. At the same time, unemployment was at 7.8 percent nationally. And believe it or not, this was no statistical oddity. The manufacturing sector has long had trouble finding skilled applicants for its jobs. Around 48 percent of manufacturing companies are looking to hire, according to the most recent report from ThomasNet, a company that helps connect producers and suppliers. But 67 percent of manufacturing companies see a moderate to severe shortage of skilled workers, and last year, as many as 600,000 jobs went unfilled, according to a report from...

It isn't just high tech positions in American manufacturing that aren't being filled. The consultant company Deloitte surveyed the industry and found 600,000 perfectly good jobs going unfilled because of a lack of "soft skills." What are soft skills? Wall Street Journal: At a recent dinner in Washington, D.C., with representatives from major American manufacturing companies, I listened as the talk turned to how hard it is to find qualified applicants for jobs. "What exactly are the skills you can't find?" I asked, imagining that openings for high-tech positions went begging because, as we hear so often, the training of...

Skills gap is hampering labor marketBy Vicki Needham - 09/09/12 05:25 PM ET Two recent reports underscore the complexities of the flagging labor market and provide backing for more action by policymakers to help narrow the skills gap in the workforce. A survey from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and a report by Deloitte show that employers are struggling to find workers with skills that fit their openings. With about 12.5 million unemployed workers and millions more underemployed or so discouraged they are leaving the workforce, job creation in the United States is hampered not only by supply...

Strains in the global labor market could lead to a surplus of up to 95 million low-skill workers and a shortage of up to 95 million high- and medium-skilled workers by 2020, according to a recent report by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). MGI concluded that unless there is a immediate and massive global effort to improve worker skills, there will be "far too few workers with the advanced skills needed to drive a high-productivity economy and far too few job opportunities for low-skill workers." One paragraph is particularly foreboding: "For advanced economies, such imbalances would likely lead to more...

Whatever the direction of Friday's jobless number, it can't be stressed enough that unemployment of the kind we're suffering at the moment is a wholly unnatural phenomenon wrought by government distortion of wages and benefits, and sagging investment that results from policies in favor of a weak dollar. It will be addressed further along in this article, but joblessness today remains high largely for those two reasons. But first, one aspect of Friday's report that is easy to predict concerns the long-term jobless. Whether coming from the left or the right, reportage on this subset of the unemployed will almost...

We hear so much these days about the unemployment figures and the lack of good paying jobs for the disappearing middle class that it’s almost become the new normal. Combined with that, the plaintive cries from the OWS occupiers about the heavy burdens of oppressive college loans for graduates unable to find work have become a regular fixture in political discussions. Which is why it’s odd when we see the Wall Street Journal reporting on employers looking to fill relatively high wage jobs and having little to no success in finding takers. Ferrie Bailey’s job should be easy: hiring workers...

The Country Mouse vs The City Mouse I have seen several debates on various websites and blogs as of late, sometimes quite heated. The topic of these opinions and debates were what is better urban or rural from a survival standpoint. Some are adamant that no one can survive a TEOTWAWKI event if they are East of the big muddy and in particular if they are not on a very remote retreat.. others are of the opinion that remote rural retreats invite gangs of home invading thugs, and that resources are easier found in a urban situation given any situation...

chicagotribune.com Illinois erases state's last writing exam 11th-graders will no longer take the test — saving state $2.4 million By Tara Malone, Tribune reporter July 6, 2011 Illinois high school juniors no longer will be tested on writing skills during the state's standardized tests every spring, eliminating the last Illinois writing exam and shaving about $2.4 million amid budgetary shortfalls. While students might welcome being spared the sweating over topic sentences and persuasive verbs, many educators worry the essential skill could get short shrift in Illinois classrooms as a result.

Self-reliance is a vital key to living a healthy, productive life. To be self-reliant one must master a basic set of skills, more or less making them a jack of all trades. Contrary to what you may have learned in school, a jack of all trades is far more equipped to deal with life than a specialized master of only one. While not totally comprehensive, here is a list of 50 things everyone should know how to do. 1. Build a Fire – Fire produces heat and light, two basic necessities for living. At some point in your life this...

“I’m ready to offer my services for ur project. Contact me at ur earliest convenience 2 arrange for interview. Thanks in advance for ur consideration.” That’s a real cover letter from a real person claiming to be a real professional, who thinks she can get a real job. The letter was fielded by publicist and trend-spotter Richard Laermer, who gets so many of these he collects them and, when asked, forwards them to reporters for fun. The letter “just made me shake my head till it nearly fell off.” But it isn’t rare. In fact, Laermer says, it’s typical. “Lazy...

I believe the best way to become a millionaire is to learn skills in a niche market, for example. get certified in Phlebotomy and start your own office and then offer your services to a variety of clinics. I'd like to hear other ideas from people on this forum who have ideas on how having certification skills can end up making you millions in the long run.

From the NY Times, White House Plans Job Training Partnership (bold by me): As part of efforts to address record-high levels of long-term unemployment, President Obama plans to announce a new national public-private partnership on Monday to help retrain workers for jobs that are in demand. The national program is a response to frustrations from both workers and employers who complain that public retraining programs frequently do not provide students with employable skills. This new initiative is intended to help better align community college curriculums with the demands of local companies. “The goal is to encourage community colleges and other...

More than half of young people lack the skills they need to maintain their homes, with many relying on their parents to carry out basic tasks, a survey suggested today. Around 50 per cent of people aged under 35 admitted they did not know how to rewire a plug, while 54 per cent did not know how to bleed a radiator and 63 per cent said they would not attempt to put up wallpaper, according to Halifax Home Insurance. Other basic jobs, such as putting up shelves, were beyond 45 per cent of those questioned, while 36 per cent said...