Posted on 10/01/2012 8:32:58 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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 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.
[...]
American manufacturing has become more advanced, we're told, and requires computer aptitude, intricate problem solving, and greater dexterity with complex tasks. Surely if Americans were getting STEM education, they would have the skills they need to get jobs in our modern, high-tech economy.
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
I delivered newspapers in waist-deep snow once or twice. ;) I think it was during the blizzard of '93. Can't promise you that they got there on time that day though.
I believe it’s a better strategy to work above and beyond the call of duty at your job. In bad times, that’s how you make sure when layoffs come, it’s the other guy who loses a job. And in good times, that’s how you get evidence to argue your case that you deserve a raise. You can tell them that you’re not being paid commensurately for the value you’re providing to the company.
“The reason I got my M.B.A. was to beat the rest of the competition while looking for work”
Except every project manager wannabee out there is an MBA/PMP with ZERO experience in the actual field, such as engineering or manufacturing, and every MBA thinks that MBA “sets them apart”. Kind of like when all those kids get piercings and tats, thinking “I’m unique”, well, unique just like all those other kids with piercings and tats. Recruiters can find 100 MBAs for project managers but are having a very difficult time finding those with actual experience. “Manager” is not a career field, it is a title.
First of all, this has nothing to do with the original post. Second of all, less than 10% of the population has an M.B.A., so to some degree they are unique. Sounds to me like to have a bit of envy working there. Either way, your first statement was incorrect, at best.
And lastly, again, the lack of experience that you cite does not apply to me, so I cannot speak to it. Either way, it is not only M.B.A’s who are the problem in the business world. No matter how much you would like to think otherwise.
Hee hee!
LLS
You sound a bit defensive to me. Sure, MBAs aren’t the only problems but they sure do contribute to much of it.
“I have an MBA, no engineering experience, no company experience, and no industry experience, but I want to run your company.” Yeah, THAT’S been working out for America.
That's nice but... can you pass a drug test, show up reliably and on time, do a full days work, and speak eighth grade English?
the present welfare state/unemployment is so cushy...anybody with 1/2 a brain takes it over a job...
Add “feel entitled to regularly use recreational drugs and so cannot pass a drug screen” to the list. I hearby predict that drug screens will be outlawed if Omuzzie wins again - it’s racist, you see.
Likewise here. HR is a hindrance and useless when trying to hire good people. Sometimes I'd have to go through 500 resumes for a dozen hires. Of the resumes that looked promising, by speaking to the interviewees I would quickly find out who was lying or overstating their qualifications. Quite a few, actually. HR didn't have a clue.
I don’t care much if someone disagrees with me, and would find it a plus if they were able to do so politely and reasonably. What I’m talking about are people who shout at and cuss out their customers, backbite their coworkers, blames everyone but themself for their own actions. People who forget all their English 5 seconds after they’re hired. People who refuse to pay attention during training because they’re convinced they know everything, then can’t do their job and claim nothing was covered in that training. People who spend large portions of the workday on their cellphone shouting at their kids.
And those are just some of the milder infractions I’ve encountered.
Anyone who has done the hiring or training at their company can tell you, employees like that are far too common.
What are the results of a century of government schooling and secularism?
That’s liberalism in a nutshell. They look at a desired outcome and input and conclude that they can find a shortcut to the outcome. They’re petite gods worshiping their own wisdom. The Law of the Harvest still applies, even if you’re not a farmer.
Bump.
Those types of schools require real skills in their teachers and the students expect real results. I don’t know a government school teacher capable of that. Even the science teachers spend a lot of time propagandizing.
.....simple grammar and spelling were the top “basic” skills ....
The article mentioned telephone skills but in my experience in dealing with young women, they don’t answer the phone any more. E mail is the communications method and the ability to write sentences is mandatory. Those who can’t write are shunned by those who must communicate with them.
Excellent post.
I have a minor in ebonics... will that help? ;-)
LLS
And so do ignorant people who have no clue as to what they are talking about.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.