Workforce Development - A Good Investment?

To stimulate our workforce, new industries will be needed

We will need 15-18 million new jobs in the next five years, just to get back to where we were only a few years ago. Without the creation of whole new industries, that is not going to happen.

Nearly 20% of Americans are not paying anywhere close to the amount of taxes they paid a few years ago, and at least ten million are now collecting some kind of unemployment benefits or welfare.

But new industries require capital, and the conventional capital markets are not lending in order to meet market needs.

Used to be, there was a simple formula for bankers called the 3-6-3 rule; Bankers would give 3% interest on depositors' accounts, lend the depositors money at 6% interest and then be playing golf at 3pm. Lately however, these depositors have been getting a bit troublesome - overextended, not paying according to terms agreed upon, and that sort of thing.

So the banking industry, always sensitive to avoiding risk, (and looking at a way to recapitalize themselves amidst mountains of toxic loans and investments), have found a new approach, which has been enabled by our friends at Treasury.

Borrow money from the Feds at 0%, buy Treasuries that pay 3%, and VOILA ! be back on the golf course at 3pm.  Isn't it wonderful how all things old become new again.

Oh, I forgot about that "new industry" stuff, didn't I?

Yes, new capital infusion will be needed to get some new industries going, and it's anyone's guess where THAT will be coming from (new ventures are risky, so there are always the equity markets, VCs and such)

The challenge I see is that in addition to all of the new capital that will be needed to launch new industries, we likely will continue to see workforce reductions in the foreseeable future as existing firms cut back and shut down due to lack of operating / growth capital.

So maybe this issue is a lot bigger, and more complex than any one is willing to talk about?

The National Dropout Crisis Continues and Is Not Improving

America is currently in the throes of a persistent high school dropout crisis that has been a long time in the making, with substantial disparities in dropout rates across race, ethnic, and income groups and geographic areas.

The absence of new funding at the federal and state level since the 1980s has led to decades of disinvestment in re-enrollment programs across the country.

In the current global economy, having at least a high school diploma is a critical step for avoiding poverty, and a college degree is a prerequisite for a well-paying job. The costs of dropping out of high school today are substantial and have risen over time, especially for young men, who find it almost impossible to earn an adequate income to take care of themselves and their families.

A new report published by Northeastern University.entitled "LEFT BEHIND IN AMERICA: THE NATION’S DROPOUT CRISIS" takes a in-depth look at this problem and what can be done.  This is a strategic issue for our workforce, and this report should be "essential reading"

Are the Stimulus funds creating new jobs? Here's one approach that could work

A new state mandate says that any job created with federal stimulus money must be advertised through the state Department of Labor, according to an article I just read in the Albany NY Business Review.  The article discusses Gov. David Paterson’s May 27 directive applies to companies that win contracts for stimulus-funded projects. Those firms are now required to work with the state to advertise any new jobs they create in the state’s job bank.

The job bank is a free online service where companies can advertise openings and people can apply for positions. The job bank can be found at www.labor.ny.gov.

Each job description must include language identifying the position as one created using stimulus money. Stimulus-funded jobs being recruited through a local union must also be posted to the job bank - while noting that.

For more details on hw this program is setup, visit www.labor.ny.gov/workforcenypartners/pj.shtm.

Gov. Paterson touted the mandate as a way to connect unemployed workers with new job opportunities. As of last month, 730,400 state residents were unemployed but actively seeking work—up almost 70 percent from a year ago.

New York is expected to receive $26.7 billion in federal stimulus money. A few Capital Region infrastructure projects are contracted and underway, including road work on Delaware Avenue in the city of Albany.

The NY state’s stimulus Web site is www.recovery.ny.gov.

Telling the Truth about Careers of the Future

Will our political leadership ever start to focus on solving our economic problems here at home with greater emphasis on career and technical education and workforce development? Reading this week"s New York Times column by Thomas Friedman, "[w]ho will tell the people?" got me fired up again on this issue. Read on to find the disturbing truth...

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Exodus of Skilled Workers Leaves Germany in a Bind

German skilled workers are leaving in record numbers and fewer immigrants are arriving, resulting in skill shortages.  About 16% of German companies say they can't find qualified candidates for open positions, partly because of the flight of highly qualified workers.  The engineering sector alone boasts 22,000 openings, with architects and electrical engineers among the most sought after.  Read why...

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Why The United States Needs a National Skills Agenda

The Council on Competitiveness in April published the Thrive report, the first in a series of targeted benchmarking reports intended to illuminate key areas of competitive advantage for Americans to succeed in the 21st century and provide an important framework for charting a path to prosperity for American citizens.

The Council on Competitiveness refers to itself as the only group of corporate CEOs, university presidents and labor leaders committed to the future prosperity of all Americans and enhanced U.S. competitiveness in the global economy through the creation of high-value economic activity in the United States.

The insightful report (available for free download) discusses in depth specific issues and strategies relating to increasing our global competitiveness through focused and aggressive workforce development practices.  The synopsis of the call to action follows:

During a time of turbulence and transition—driven by globalization, accelerating technological change, and volatility in global energy, currency and financial markets—America needs a national skills agenda to compete globally and to ensure a rising standard of living for its citizens.

National and Global Demographic Trends Are Raising Red Flags. Slowing growth of the U.S. workforce has the potential to slow economic output if productivity does not increase. Lack of adequate reading and math skills among new U.S. workers compounds this challenge. At the same time, hundreds of millions of educated foreign workers are entering the global workforce and competing for jobs that are increasingly vulnerable to Offshoring.

Four Critical Skills Strategies for the United States

1) Meet the Demand for Middle Skills

Middle-skilled jobs represent the largest number of total openings in the United States until 2016, and the United States is failing to adequately train Americans to take advantage of this opportunity. These jobs do not always require a college degree, but most require training, technical sophistication and initiative. They pay well and do not offshore easily.

2) Build Service Economy Skills

More than three-quarters of all jobs in the United States are in the service economy, yet many policymakers view them as low-skill, low-wage options. In fact, the service sector is driving demand for more complex and creative skill sets—including problem solving, communications, entrepreneurship, computational analysis, collaboration and teamwork.

3) Compete for Innovation Advantage

Simply saying America needs more scientists and engineers is no guarantee that the United States can compete successfully in a global economy in which many nations have copied our model. Policymakers must recognize that the margin of advantage will flow from the fusion of cutting-edge capabilities with entrepreneurial, creative and interdisciplinary talent. Four potential areas to start with to create competitive advantage:

• More integrative scientists and engineers

• More entrepreneurial scientists and engineers

• More business-savvy service scientists and engineers

• More computational scientists and engineers to leverage America’s IT advantage

4) Create Skills for Sustainability

Sustainability will become a more important determinant of global hiring and investment patterns. Where new and growing companies locate and where jobs are created will depend in large measure on which countries successfully anticipate these opportunities and take steps to educate and train workers in these fields. America must get out front and move fast to develop the talent and skills workforce to capture these opportunities.

We are ALL impacted by our willingness and ability to move this initiative ahead.  If we ALL take ownership at a personal level of just ONE of these areas and work with our companies, schools and colleagues, we CAN make a measurable difference in our country. 

If of course, you feel that leaving it to others will "git er done", then prepare yourself for the inevitable consequences.

U.S. Department of Labor Proposes Rules To Align Apprenticeship With The 21st Century Economy

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed rules to align the national apprenticeship system with the tools and flexibility needed for the 21st century global economy.

"Apprenticeship is a proven model of training that has been expanded beyond its traditional origins in industries such as construction to high growth industries and sectors," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco. "We have proposed new regulations to reflect the 21st century global economy and the changes that have occurred in apprenticeship programs over the past 30 years."

The proposed rules would set up a more flexible and user-friendly approach for apprentices and employers, and make updates and changes affecting state apprenticeship agencies and the U.S. Department of Labor. The revisions would expand the ways that individuals can advance through apprenticeships. The types of training would expand from one to the following three approaches:

• Competency-based approach, which requires the apprentice to demonstrate competency in the defined subject areas and does not require any specific hours of On-the-Job Training (OJT) or Related Technical Instruction (RTI).
• Traditional, time-based approach, which requires the apprentice to complete a specific number of OJT and RTI hours.
• Hybrid approach, which requires the apprentice to complete a minimum number of OJT and RTI hours and demonstrate competency in the defined subject areas.

Electronic media would be added to the definition of Related Technical Instruction and, as a result, establish technology-based and distance learning as part of an apprentice's instruction.

The proposed changes provide for interim credential certificates, so that active apprentices can demonstrate their proficiency in particular required skills and competencies to employers. Provisions also feature reciprocity, which would allow programs to cross state lines, so long as the host state's applicable laws are followed. Program performance and accountability standards would be enhanced, while guidance and technical assistance would continue to give apprenticeship programs the best prospects for success.

Putting "old Charley" out to Pasture

Recently, I witnessed the retirement of a fellow, who I'll call "old Chariey" who after many decades as a player in a large construction firm, stepped down, in order to "pursue other interests"

A veteran of the business, he had built up a stunning legacy of successfully completed projects, had served on dozens of committees and industry boards, was well known in the construction market, and when he walked out the door, took much of this knowledge with him.

We live in interesting times, indeed.

There is a general recognition that many industries, including construction, can benefit from the extensive skills of existing older workers.  And trend data indicates more older workers want to remain on the job longer.  Unfortunately, they often are forced to decide between their social security benefits and a paycheck.

Older workers possessing a broad array of building, supervision and management skills are often discouraged from working past retirement because they can lose some of their social security income if they earn more than the limits.

In calendar year 2005, for example, until recipients turn 65 (currently the normal retirement age) they can earn up to $31,800 without penalty; seniors earning more than that amount lose $1 of benefits for every $3 of earnings above the limit. There is no limit once past 65 years old.

Beneficiaries under the age of 65 are penalized by a reduction in benefits of $1 for every $2 of earnings above $12,000 in 2005.

Smart firms are starting to realize that they need to make better use of older workers talent, relationships and experiences.  These are people proud of their accomplishments, who want to contribute and share in a meaningful way, and it puts organizational leadership into the position of "thinking outside the box" to figure out how to leverage these assets in a meaningful "win-win" way.

Removing the social security earnings test would encourage more skilled workers to remain in the building trades - where their knowledge, connections and experience are still needed, and valued.

Looked at the 2008 Federal Budget Lately?

I recently took a closer look at the 2008 Federal Budget.  What I saw troubled me - a lot.

It cuts funding for career and technical education in half, and job training programs by $1 billion.

These programs are critical if we are going to continue to prepare workers to meet the demands of the 21st century workforce. Job Corps is reduced by $55 million, or 3.5 percent. It also would cut Head Start by $100 million.

As we enter a time of increasingly sophisticated skills being needed in order to meet the workforce needs of today and tomorrow, doesn't this seem a bit strange to you?

Our Schools are Becoming Dropout Factories

Imagine a nation in which all students, from Benton Harbor to Watts, from Akron to Baltimore, from Chicago’s South side to rural South Carolina, routinely graduate from high school ready and prepared to succeed in college or advanced post-secondary training. Imagine the social and economic implications of being able to say to any child, in any locale in the United States, “you will be provided with a high school that will educate you, challenge you, care for you, support you, and graduate you ready to compete and succeed in the world.” Fifty years after Brown vs. the Board of Education, the image of public high schools providing all youth with equal opportunity to receive a high quality education remains inspiring and compelling.

Current reality, however, offers a much more troubled picture. In each of the locations listed above, half or more of high school students do not graduate, let alone leave high school prepared to fully participate in civic life. It is no coincidence that these locales are gripped by high rates of unemployment, crime, ill health, and chronic despair. For many in these and other areas, the only real and lasting pipeline out of poverty in modern America, a solid high school education followed by post secondary schooling or training, is cracked and broken. Consider the central findings of this study:

• Nearly half of our nation’s African American students, nearly 40% of Latino students, and only 11% of white students attend high schools in which graduation is not the norm.
• Between 1993 and 2002, the number of high schools with the lowest levels of success in promoting freshmen to senior status on time (a strong correlate of high dropout and low graduation rates) increased by 75%, compared with only an 8% increase in the total number of high schools.
• There are currently between 900 and 1,000 high schools in the country in which graduating is at best a 50/50 proposition. In 2,000 high schools, a typical freshman class shrinks by 40% or more by the time the students reach their senior year. This represents nearly one in five regular or vocational high schools in the U.S. that enroll 300 or more students.
• A majority minority high school is five times more likely to have weak promoting power (promote 50% or fewer freshmen to senior status on time) than a majority white school.
• Poverty appears to be the key correlate of high schools with weak promoting power. Majority minority high schools with more resources (e.g., selective programs, higher per pupil expenditures, suburban location) successfully promote students to senior status at the same rate as majority white schools.
• The majority of high schools with weak promoting power are located in northern and western cities and throughout the southern states.
• High schools with the worst promoting power are concentrated in a sub-set of states. Nearly 80% of the nation’s high schools that produce the highest number of dropouts can be found in just 15 states (Arizona, California, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas).
• While only 20% of high schools that enroll more than 300 students are located in large and medium-sized cities, 60% of the nation’s high schools with the lowest levels of promoting power are found in these cities.
• Many cities have high concentrations of high schools with weak promoting power. In half of the nation’s largest 100 cities, 50% or more of high school students who attend regular or vocational high schools with more than 300 students attend high schools with weak promoting power. In some cities, students have virtually no other choice but to attend a high school with weak promoting power.
• More than half of African American students in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania attend high schools in which the majority of students do not graduate on time, if at all. African American students in these states are up to 10 times more likely to attend a high school with very weak promoting power, high dropout and low graduation rates than white students.
• Five southern states—Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas— collectively lead the nation in both total number and level of concentration of high schools with weak promoting power.

These findings are a chilling reminder of how much further we need to go to truly realize the vision of Brown. They are also a call to action. We must no longer tolerate the squandered potential, limited life chances, and social malaise that result from poorly educating our nation’s youth. Increasing momentum for high school reform is a promising development but must not become a passing fad. With sustained commitment and judicious use of resources, transforming the American high school will be a powerful vehicle to achieving a more just and prosperous society.

How Workers Suffer When Municipalities Don't Have Their Ducks in a Row

It's a problem that cost "Women in Construction" thousands in lost revenue this past building season.  "This summer, when we were waiting on four permits, we had to wait anywhere from four to six weeks to get those permits and in the meantime I had to layoff eight of my employees” said Michelle LeBeau, of Women in Construction.

It's a problem becoming more commonplace where overtaxed buildings departments, that are often being forced to cutback, have a profound ripple effect on builders that depend upon them for critical paperwork and approvals

It's somewhat of a self fulfilling prophesy however for in many parts of the country, the buildings departments have been systematically "raided" by contractors who are looking for construction experienced personnel.

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Tougher US immigration leading to 'reverse brain-drain': study

The huge backlog in US immigration visas is leading to a "reverse brain-drain" that will force skilled workers to return to their home country, a report released Wednesday concludes.

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Careers With a Guaranteed Future

Looking for an area with incredible need and that will fuel ongoing demand for skilled engineers and construction personnel?  Think infrastructure...

As the Katrina New Orleans levee failure and the recent Minnesota bridge collapse pointed out, infrastructure in the United States is clearly in need of an overhaul. In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers, does a report card every two years.  Check out the most recent one (from 2005):

America’s infrastructure report card for 2005
By the American Society of Civil Engineers National grades

• Aviation, D+
• Bridges, C
• Dams, D
• Drinking water, D-
• Energy (national power grid), D
• Hazardous waste, D
• Navigable waterways, D-
• Public parks/recreation, C-
• Rail, C-
• Roads, D
• Schools, D
• Security, I
• Solid waste, C+
• Transit, D+
• Wastewater, D-

Giving an overall GPA to America’s Infrastructure: D

These areas are "essential basic infrastructure" to our society, and it cannot be ignored. 

Education firms like RedVector.com who have extensive libraries of accredited online education provide the leaders in this area with the latest educational offerings in building and improving America's infrastructure.  If you're in this business, or intend to be, it should be mandatory training for you.

Another resource the American Society of Civil Engineers has provided to educate people on the important issues of infrastructure is their "Critical Infrastructure Blog"

All Americans are dependent upon sound infrastructure - so this is REQUIRED reading

Let me know what you think.

Critical Worker Shortage Issue - Current Warzones

Despite the much publicized effects of the "surge" in Iraq, our combat troops are having a tough time in the middle east warzones.  And it is affecting warfighter recruitment and retention in a significant way.

Reuters June 4 headlines reported: “U.S.-led soldiers control only about a third of Baghdad, the military said on Monday.  The troubling article cites ”After five years of war the US controls one-third of one city and nothing else".  This serious situation, according to a host of US commanding generals is depleting the resourses of the US military. A year ago Colin Powell said that the US Army is “about broken.” Gen. Barry McCafrey testified to the US Senate that without a change in strategy, “the Army will unravel.”

Col. Andy Bacevich, a renowned writer on military affairs, highlights the severity of how this protracted multi-theater war has depleted and exhausted the US Army and Marine Corps:

“Only a third of the regular Army’s brigades qualify as combat-ready. In the reserve components, none meet that standard. When the last of the units reaches Baghdad as part of the president’s strategy of escalation, the US will be left without a ready-to-deploy land force reserve.”

“The stress of repeated combat tours is sapping the Army’s lifeblood. Especially worrying is the accelerating exodus of experienced leaders. The service is currently short 3,000 commissioned officers. By next year, the number is projected to grow to 3,500. The Guard and reserves are in even worse shape. There the shortage amounts to 7,500 officers. Young West Pointers are bailing out of the Army at a rate not seen in three decades. In an effort to staunch the losses, that service has begun offering a $20,000 bonus to newly promoted captains who agree to stay on for an additional three years. Meanwhile, as more and more officers want out, fewer and fewer want in: ROTC scholarships go unfilled for a lack of qualified applicants.”

Without getting into the snare of political assessment, it becomes clear that fighting this war is having a significant effect on our warfighters in combat, the legions of military and civilian professionals working on retention and recruitment.  And in many cases without significant result.

This is not an academic exercise, as we're talking about real lives, and affects us in the battlefield, as well as our communities at home.  The "war for talent" in this case, is an actual war, the consequences of not winning are not ones we want to consider.

Are 20,000 global temps the right solution to the 2010 Olympics problem?

Like Montreal, 3 decades ago, the construction costs of the 2010 games is soaring.  Construction spokespeople have blamed escalating labour costs for the overrun.  Now, calls are being heard in some business circles for the Canadian government to solve the problem by bringing large numbers of foreign workers into the country.  Union busting?

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Statistics vs. Real Life

A recent article in Parade magazine discusses a concern about the "real" basis of government published workforce statistics.

The article cites:
Many Americans feel that government statistics don’t match their daily experience. “Inflation seems worse than official reports indicate,” says Arden Davis, who made $94,300 teaching geological engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology last year. His view is widely shared. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) says inflation is low, but the cost of necessities like housing, utilities, health insurance and education is rising faster than wages for most Americans. “ The CPI is heavily influenced by the wealthy, who do most of the spending,” explains Zandi.

The Parade article continues, “It doesn’t reflect the budget of most Americans.” Gary Earl Ross, who earned $64,900 as an English professor and author in Buffalo, N.Y., agrees: “Any wage increase I’ve gotten is offset by increases in the cost of living,” he says, “and in the fall I’ll have two kids in college.” Marie Ouano made $75,000 last year performing X-ray and MRI exams as a radiology technician but says housing in San Francisco is so expensive, she’s not sure she can afford to buy a home on one income.

This has always interested me.  The CPI, against which many published economy statistics are grounded, generally excludes costs of housing, food, and energy costs, which have all been rising as of late. 

Does this make sense?

Report on America’s Dynamic Workforce

A report is now available, entitled America’s Dynamic Workforce: 2006, which "presents an overview of current conditions and notable trends affecting the American labor market and economic activity

This report is published by the office of the Assistant Secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Labor

Why is aging of the workforce significant to employers?

Demographers have presented a compelling case: the 21 st century workforce is – and increasingly will be – different from the workforce of the last century. One important change is the aging of the workforce, a trend expected to continue for several decades. Labor force economists expect significant increases in the percentages of workers 55 and older who will be in the labor force by 2012.

The National Study Report,a research product of The National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development authored by Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Ph.D., Michael A. Smyer, Ph.D., Christina Matz-Costa, and Katherine Kane, looks deeply into the internal dynamics of workforce analysis and planning, and provides a rich and current set of options for employers to refer to when trying to make sense of today's dynamic workforce.

Employers increasingly understand that the success of their businesses often reflect the adaptations they make to new trends and changes occurring both inside and outside of their organizations. The reports shows conclusively how the “right” adaptations made “just-in-time” may produce competitive advantages; adaptations that are “not enough” or that occur “too late” could result in unanticipated vulnerabilities.

Blog :Global Labor Strategies

Global Labor Strategies an advocacy blog containing both accepted as well as highly controversial discussion of ideas and resources for the global labor movement caught my attention recently.  It is an excellent resource on what's happening in the organized labor community, and provides good insights on policies and activities of "players" in the global labor marketplace.  Stuff that we all need to stay on top of.

The authors include Tim Costello who has over 40 years of work and union experience in the area. He helped organize and served as Coordinator of the Boston based North American Alliance for Fair Employment, Brendan Smith is a legal expert (J.D. Cornell University Law School) specializing in national and international labor law and policy.  He is currently co-director of the UCLA Law School Globalization and Labor Standards Project, Jeremy Brecher a leading labor historian, writer, and documentary script writer who has for more than two decades collaborated with Costello in research and publishing numerous books about labor and globalization, and Claudia Torrelli of Montevideo, Uruguay. who handles GLS’s Latin American network, an activist the in labor—community based Hemispheric Social Alliance, and in other social movement organizations in Latin America.

In this blog, you will find insights not readily available elsewhere.  For example, a recent article "Why Labor Can and Should Lead a Reassessment of Approaches to China"  examines the role of the U.S. labor movement in the reassessment of approaches to China.

Great blog and excellent overall resource on this important aspect of todays global workforce.

Literacy and Workplace Skills: How to Assess Levels

Thomas Phillips, Ph.D., an economist, writing for the Ontario Workforce Development Board writes "Our economy has entered a new era. Those with strong communications skills – reading, writing, and speaking – and more particularly those who have the ability to thoughtfully analyze information are the most valued people in our labor market. They are the ones who have more job opportunities, higher pay, and are less often without work than any other group. The ability to communicate and analyze are the keystones of a knowledge economy

Literacy is often considered an either/or issue; one can read and write and do basic math or not. The continuum of literacy and basic skills is becoming increasingly better understood, however, to mean the degree to which people can communicate, learn, adapt to change and deal with complex problems.

Minimum literacy skills for the current economy have been benchmarked and a study of 23,000 working-age Canadians found that 40 percent have marginal to poor skills1. These categories include those at levels one, two and the bottom of level three. The levels are described as:

Level 1: It identifies people who can read, but test poorly. They may have developed coping skills to manage everyday literacy demands but their low level of proficiency makes it difficult for them to face novel demands, such as learning new job skills

Level 2: People can only deal with material that is simple, clearly laid out, and in which the tasks involved are not too complex. It denotes a weak level of skill, but more hidden than Level 1. At this level, people have developed coping skills to manage everyday literacy demands but face difficulty earning new job skills.

Level 3: The minimum skill level suitable for coping with the demands of everyday life and work in a complex, advanced society. It denotes roughly the skill level required for successful secondary school completion and college entry. Like higher levels, it requires the ability to integrate several sources of information and solve more complex problems.

Levels 4/5: It represents people who demonstrate command of higher-order information processing skills. 

21st Century Skills : Do you Have Them?

Because the world of work is changing, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education formed the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) to study the kinds of competencies and skills that workers must have to succeed in today's workplace.  The results of the study were published in a document entitled What Work Requires of Schools: A SCANS Report for America 2000.  A summary of the findings are provided in the tables below.

 

Table 1: SCANS' Five Competencies

Resources: Identifies, organizes, plans, and allocates resources

 

• Time - selects goal-relevant activities, ranks them, allocates time, and prepares and follows schedules
• Money - uses or prepares budgets, makes forecasts, keeps records, and makes adjustments to meet objectives
• Material and facilities - acquires, stores, allocates, and uses materials or space efficiently
• Human resources - assesses skills and distributes work accordingly, evaluates performance and provides feedback

Interpersonal: Works with others

• Participates as member of a team - contributes to group effort
• Teaches others new skills
• Services clients/customers - works to satisfy customers expectations
• Exercises leadership - communicates ideas to justify position, persuades and convinces others, responsibly challenges existing procedures and policies
• Negotiates - works toward agreements involving exchange of resources, resolves divergent interests
• Works with diversity - works well with men and women from diverse backgrounds

Information: Acquires and evaluates information

• Acquires and evaluates information
• Organizes and maintains information
• Interprets and communicates information
• Uses computers to process information

Systems: Understands complex interrelationships

• Understands systems - knows how social, organizational, and technological systems work and operates effectively with them
• Monitors and corrects performance - distinguishes trends, predicts impacts on system operations, diagnoses deviations in systems performance and corrects malfunctions
• Improves or designs systems - suggests modifications to existing systems and develops new or alternative systems to improve performance

Technology: Works with a variety of technologies

• Selects technology - chooses procedures, tools, or equipment including computers and related technologies
• Applies technology to task - understands intent and proper procedures for setup and operation of equipment
• Maintains and troubleshoots equipment - prevents, identifies, or solves problems with equipment, including computers and other technologies

---

Table 2:  A Three-Part Foundation of SCANS Skills and Personal Qualities

Basic Skills: Reads, writes, performs arithmetic and mathematical operations, listens, and speaks

• Reading - locates, understands, and interprets written information in prose and in documents such as manuals, graphs, and schedules
• Writing - communicates thoughts, ideas, information, and messages in writing; and creates documents such as letters, directions, manuals, reports, graphs, and flow charts
• Arithmetic/mathematics - performs basic computations and approaches practical problems by choosing appropriately from a variety of mathematical techniques
• Listening - receives, attends to, interprets, and responds to verbal messages and other cues
• Speaking - organizes ideas and communicates orally

Thinking Skills: Thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows how to learn, and reasons

• Creative thinking - generates new ideas
• Decision making - specifies goals and constraints, generates alternatives, considers risks, and evaluates and chooses best alternatives
• Problem solving - recognizes problems and devises and implements plan of action
• Visualizing - organizes and processes symbols
• Knowing how to learn - uses efficient learning techniques to acquire and apply new knowledge and skills
• Reasoning - discovers a rule or principle underlying the relationship between two or more objects and applies it when solving a problem

Personal Qualities: Responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, integrity, and honesty

• Responsibility - exerts a high level of effort and perseveres towards goal attainment
• Self-esteem - believes in own self-worth and maintains a positive view of self
• Sociability - demonstrates understanding, friendliness, adaptability, empathy, and politeness in group settings
• Self-management - assesses self accurately, sets personal goals, monitors progress, and exhibits self-control
• Integrity/honesty - chooses ethical courses of action

When Taxes Drive Away Workers

Since I left upstate NY in the 70's due to cold weather and oppressive tax burdens (business and personal), the state has become even more economically unattractive to resident and non-resident workers.  Unless something changes, it will continue to struggle to find and retain the "best and the brightest"

This is also the thought of I can't Wait to Leave an article posted on The Knickerbocker Blog, a production of The Business Council of New York State, Inc. a group seeking to publish economic data, educate policymakers, and advocate ways to make the Empire State more attractive to businesses and workers.  They have their work cut out for them.

Despite its many and varied charms, New York is shrinking. The state lost 26,000 residents from July 2004 to July 2005. That's as if everyone is Saratoga Springs vanished.

That's a lot of resources to lose and it doesn't bode well for the future. Along with losing personal clout, the state will lose representation in Congress, if this trend continues.

The Business Council of New York State cites high taxes as the likely reason people are fleeing the state. No matter how nice a place is, people need to be able to pay the rent or mortgage with something left over for themselves or their families.

With tax season coming up, it's chilling to realize that New York's state and local tax burden is the highest in the nation at $4,645 per person. Florida and Texas have respective tax bites that are about $2,000 less. Not surprisingly, both gained population while New York lost it.

. . . .

New Workforce Model facing Opposition

Recently I was referred to the Thoughts of an Average Woman blog, an excellent production that is dedicated to targeting issues and policies harmful to women and working families.

The article I was referred to was in the "Working Families" section entitled Band Together does a critical examination of the efforts of the General Accounting Office (GAO) to organize and implement a new Pay for Performance program.  There have been many efforts to establish new workforce models in Govenrment and this initiative looks like one that could work well.

However, being Government, there are always political and structural issues on both sides.  This is an excellent blog and a great article.  I invite you to weigh in on this important issue.

Are engineering jobs really going unfilled?

Rusty Weston the head honcho over at the My Global Career blog has provided a great article that cuts through the BS and provides some great insight iunto what's really happening in the engineering workforce in the US.  His article, entitled Which Cyberstate Are You Living In? examines the labor shortage in engineering from a couple of different angles. 

One part I liked in particular was the introduction in which he states:

The immigration debate is expected to heat up again with the release this week of an employment report showing that the U.S. engineering workforce is almost fully employed. The data runs contrary to the views of pundits who contend that low-wage-paying countries are eating our lunch in high-tech.

The Cyberstates report released this week by the by the American Electronics Association shows that the national unemployment rate for engineers is under 2 percent. 

That seems to say a lot, for 2% may as well be no unemployment.  But then Economist Jared Bernstein with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington D.C, told The San Francisco Chronicle that there is no labor shortage crisis that should drive Congress to raise the caps on H-1B visas granted each year to foreign workers.

Barb, a reader, jumps in with "The reason that it looks like our engineering workforce is fully employed is that two very large groups are not being counted in this calculation: a) those who were driven out of engineering professions in the last 7 years and are doing some other work or gave up, and b) those who are grossly underemployed, working below the level of income and responsibility they would have been able to expect otherwise. Count those, and the numbers are dire. So, we definitely don’t need to raise the H-1b cap, we merely need to recover and redeploy our native talent who got battered in the last few years."

So while debate rages on the political front, firms looking for engineers become increasingly frustrated.
Meanwhile, there are many great eLearning resources for developing your engineering talent.   Click here to  link to Google Search to help you identify the top sources for online continuing education for engineers. 

Also, while I'm on the subject, don't you think it's about time our legislators got on the same page with the businesses in the US?