I have been conducting an informal survey for some time about jobs and employment, meaning that I have been keeping my ears and eyes open, listening and reading articles about that broad subject. I know, not very scientific, but illuminating to me.
What brought this particularly to mind was an interview program on Bloomberg Radio recently. An interviewee said flatly that most large companies had job openings that they couldn’t fill because there was a dearth of qualified applicants. In fact one spokesperson said that if they could find such they would hire them even if they didn’t have an opening, because they were so hard to find. Some of these jobs were in engineering, but many others were in skill areas that may or may not require some college education. We manufacture products that cannot be made or purchased anywhere else in the world, it was stated, and there is strong demand, but we cannot expand production due to a shortage of qualified employees available to hire.
Some time ago I asked a plumber who worked for the largest plumbing firm in Texas whether they were having trouble finding applicants. Not at all, he said, but we are having a lot of trouble getting them qualified (licenced). Another independent hot tub repairman told me that he had hired several helpers but in each occasion found that although they were eager for the pay would reluctant to do the work. What is going on?
Engineers are not difficult to figure out; everyone is not cut out to be an engineer, largely due to the mathmatics challenge. How many people do you know that hate math? We have long been looking to foreigners for our engineers and even our engineering school have large numbers of foreign students. You might want to blame our schools where students are not being properly prepared; I prefer to blame motivation. It’s too hard, and graduates don’t start with six figure salaries; we think big these days. That, after all, is the biggest draw of college education where, it has been trumpeted, graduates can expect to make a million dollars more than non-college graduates over a lifetime. That, however, is statistical – an average – and I’m not even sure that it still holds; but I have read that investment analysts are being laid off and graduating law students are finding it hard to find jobs. Which doesn’t mean that there is no demand for MBA and law school graduates, but might indicate, as a number of writers have been suggesting, that we have oversold college education. Watch out for generalities there too, however. For those qualified and motivated education geared to skills that are in demand are as valuable as they have ever been; but what of those that attract students that are minimally qualified, poorly motivated, and just want to walk away with the sheepskin, with as little effort as possible?
Not everyone is or should be college material, but we have hyped exactly that, and in fact most of our schools purport to be college preparatory in nature. And in the process I would contend that we have glorified college and demeaned trades. And some of that, I also contend but cannot prove, is associated with the supposed ease of 9-5 “office” jobs along with alleged “good” salaries – government jobs in particular – and too many neither want to get their hands dirty or work overly hard. But I have also heard from teachers that kids today are not a great deal different than they have always been, they just have different expectations. And where does that come from? what they have been told and what they have heard; in short, propaganda. Fortunately there has been a resurgence, probably not all that strong yet – in community college industrial arts courses; hands on courses that teach skills. It might be useful if somehow apprentice programs could be reintroduced or expanded.
I had a coleague some years ago who announced that she was moving to Texas (from Colorado) to accept a job with the Border Patrol. How about your husband, I asked her. No problem, she answered, he is an electrician and he can get a job anywhere. Still true? I would wager it is for people who are skilled at it, motivated and willing to work. But then I have also heard – but cannot verify – that there is even demand for sales people; not just anyone who wants a sales job, but people who are knowledgeable or experienced with the areas/products being sold. That tells me, and I believe it, that there are jobs available for people who are knowledgeable, motivated and willing to work; of course it helps if they know what they want to do and have developed skill in doing it. Employers are impressed by enthusiasm, when they can find it.
Please understand this is not the whole story; there is much more in terms of product and service demand, regulations and cost of hiring. That’s another subject; but it’s not the whole story either. Companies are looking for “good” (and skilled) people and we are being too influenced by negative statistical “evidence” to the contrary. The economy will come back; how strong, though, will depend upon us.
