Posted on 09/20/2012 5:34:05 AM PDT by reaganaut1
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 the U.S. workforce doesn't match up well with current corporate needs.
One of the representatives looked sheepishly around the room and responded: "To be perfectly honest . . . we have a hard time finding people who can pass the drug test." Several other reps gave a knowing nod. Applicants were often so underqualified, they said, that simply finding someone who could properly answer the telephone was sometimes a challenge.
...
But considerable evidence suggests that many employers would be happy just to find job applicants who have the sort of "soft" skills that used to be almost taken for granted. In the Manpower Group's 2012 Talent Shortage Survey, nearly 20% of employers cited a lack of soft skills as a key reason they couldn't hire needed employees. "Interpersonal skills and enthusiasm/motivation" were among the most commonly identified soft skills that employers found lacking.
Employers also mention a lack of elementary command of the English language. A survey in April of human-resources professionals conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management and the AARP compared the skills gap between older workers who were nearing retirement and younger workers coming into the labor pool. More than half of the organizations surveyed reported that simple grammar and spelling were the top "basic" skills among older workers that are not readily present among younger workers.
The SHRM/AARP survey also found that "professionalism" or "work ethic" is the top "applied" skill that younger workers lack.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
There is someone sitting near me who is sick as a dog but she already run through her sick leave so she just coughs all day. I feel sorry for the people who get closed up in the office with her. She likes to suffer loudly.
I prided myself on being able to "work hard, play hard."
Today's young folks want to be able to play hard, but that's where it ends.
That would be funny, except that if they ever give that "disease" an ICD-9 code you won't be able to fire a lazy sonofab!tch like that unless you want an ADA lawsuit to fight.
And they wonder why practically no one with any sense is hiring, and those that are hiring are picky as hell.
As I've estimated before, the US "unemployable rate" approaches 50%.
Here in our area there is a lot of shale gas fracking. An able bodied young man with a high-school diploma who is willing to be trained and then show up for work every day could easily earn as much as $100K. But they are having a hard time filling these jobs, cause the idea of showing up and working hard every day in tough conditions is foreign to these kids.
Not like the Pittsburgh of old. Those old mill hunks would pull double shifts under some of the most brutal working conditions that ever existed.
I wonder what effect all that texting has done to spelling skills. Too much “OMG R U Kid’g? I’ll b l8 LOL!!!” and the brain finds it can’t write business grammar anymore.
Great article.
If you look at the data behind the article, especially the Society of Human Resource Management survey, it is abundantly clear what Obama did. The Federal Government and Finance industries were least affected, while the construction, mining, oil and gas industries were hardest hit with having to lay off staff.
The entitlement mentality is responsible for the lack of skills, and that mentality is being nurtured by the Democrats. It is noticeable that top among the soft skills shortages in the USA are enthusiasm/motivation and professionalism, attributes not needed in an entitlement society.
You don’t need to pass a drug or English test to wait tables.
They get offended when you leave off the -ticks suffix from Democrat-ticks because then the word ends in rat, a humble animal that works hard for food. A blood sucking parasite is a better nickname for them.
I SO disagree.
First of all, you have to have some minimal level of intelligence to use spell check.
Then, you have to have some minimal level of education in the English language to use spell check (for instance, you have to know the difference between there, their, and they're).
Finally, even with spell check and grammar check, you wouldn't believe how many resumes I see that have misspelled words, incomplete sentences and dangling participles.
But this isn’t just caused by the schools. Many of this generations PARENTS never bothered to instill any kind of self-discipline in their children either.
I have had more than one set of parents actually tell me that they like their daughter hanging out with my daughter because they hope some of the respect, discipline and manners will rub off on their kids. HUH!?!?!
Do they actually think that I just was “lucky” to get a “good” kid? That is the mentality of the PARENT! That is simply SCARY!
The results of being coddled their whole lives. If they fail, whatever, mommy and government will take care of them. No self respect.
They really only hurt themselves, as we have positions for such people with limited availability - it's just that those positions don't pay as well and don't grow their careers as quickly.
Spelling and grammar demonstrate competency and are more important now because of e-mail. Using just one instance of Ebonics in an e-mail can cause serious career damage.
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