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.





























Recent Comments