By Alan J. Kaplan
Evidence is mounting that American employers are facing a genuine, widespread and worsening gap between the skills they need and the skills the workforce possesses.
In a survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 53 percent of small-business leaders said they faced a “very or fairly major challenge in recruiting non-managerial employees.” Among last year’s Inc. 5000 CEOs, 76 percent said they were experiencing major problems recruiting qualified people.
Indicators suggest the recovering economy will exacerbate those problems. Job openings across America recently reached the highest level since 2001, and the ratio of job seekers to job openings dropped from 7:1 in 2009 to just 1.7:1 in early 2015. The Skills Gap Misery Index (SGMI) — an analysis of monthly job openings and monthly unemployment numbers — has suggested for five years that there is a serious disconnect between the skills of available workers and the skills required in job postings. What’s more, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics now predicts the number of unfilled jobs in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields will climb to a historic high of 1.2 million by 2018.
“We have been talking about this issue for 15 years, but we are just now hitting the pain points in the skills gap,” says Karen Clay Basile, senior director of learning at Tyco University. “Organizations are starting to actually experience the gap, and some are beginning to realize they have to engage in talent-development efforts that are much bigger and more ingrained in their
core operations.”
The world’s largest fire protection and security company, Tyco started to see across-the-board skill gaps, Basile says. So the Princeton, New Jersey-based company created its own university to heighten employee skills in four key areas: leadership and management, sales and sales management, growth and innovation, and change management.
Develop your own people
But recently, Tyco executives realized they needed to expand their training to include a fifth, crucial area — development of early career talent. “Baby boomers are starting to leave the workforce. Long-tenured, highly knowledgeable and highly skilled employees are retiring, and those departures are exposing gaps in the skills of the workforce,” Basile says.
Tyco realized it couldn’t expect to fill those gaps with highly experienced individuals. Instead, it would need to identify high-potential but less experienced people and create training sessions, mentorship programs, project-experience opportunities and other professional development offerings to accelerate their growth.
Several studies have warned that some employers are exacerbating their own skills-gap problems by doggedly searching for experienced individuals rather than hiring individuals with the right education, skills and potential, and developing those people.
Granted, not every company can afford to create its own university. But companies can ease skills gaps within their ranks by providing employees with increased professional development opportunities (an item that was cut in many budgets during the recession), beefing up mentoring programs and creating opportunities for up-and-coming talent to work on advanced projects.
Companies can further lessen the skills gap by supporting apprenticeship programs, partnerships with schools, and collective educational efforts by professional associations or business groups.
Collaborations among businesses, educators and other groups have the potential to address the country’s skills gaps. Here are a few examples of how American companies are effectively partnering with educators.
Talent pipeline management
In late 2014, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation presented a straightforward challenge (and potential solution) to American employers struggling with the skills gap: Start treating talent development the same way you handle supply chain management.
The Foundation unveiled a framework for easing the skills gap, entitled the “Talent Pipeline Management Initiative.” Stressing that “education and workforce systems in the United States are failing to keep pace with the changing needs of the economy and employers are struggling to find skilled workers,” the framework calls on employers to apply the same importance, rigor and skills used in supply-chain management to talent-pipeline management.
In particular, the framework suggests employers:
National collaboration
Since 2007, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions has fostered partnerships among employers, workers, industries, communities and philanthropies to close the skills gap. Specifically, the Fund advances and invests in innovative, evidence-based, employer-led training and credentialing programs.
The results have been impressive. A study of unemployed individuals who have earned more than 37,000 degrees and credentials in Fund-supported programs showed those individuals experienced significantly higher success rates in landing jobs, retaining jobs and earning better pay than individuals in other workforce development programs.
Partners in the schools
Realizing that business needs to take a greater role in educating America’s future workforce, Chevron and Lockheed Martin began investing millions in Project Lead the Way (PLTW) — a national nonprofit that supports STEM education in elementary, middle and high schools. The investment, company executives concurred, could help interest more children in STEM careers and eventually ease growing shortages of STEM workers in America.
The strengthened PLTW operations soon started to yield concrete, unanticipated benefits. In 2009, Toyota partnered with PLTW and some community colleges to find promising workers, provide industry-specific training and close its own skills gap. Together, the partners created the Advanced Manufacturing Technician (AMT) program — a two-year, work-study program that enables high-school graduates to earn associate degrees and get training at Toyota facilities. To date, nearly 90 percent of AMT graduates have gone on to fill skilled technician posts at Toyota. The company is so pleased with the results that it is currently expanding the AMT program throughout North America.
Alan J. Kaplan is founder and CEO of Kaplan Partners., a Philadelphia-based executive search and talent advisory firm. www.kaplanpartners.com. Contact him at alan@kaplanpartners.com.
We know there are now too many US-Citizen STEM graduates.
In light of that, why does Ted Cruz desire to hurt the US and import 500% more STEM graduates??