Education and Workforce Preparedness

Our friends at Achieve, Inc. have given us permission to reprint their excellent materials when we see information that will be of interest to the Massachusetts business community.  This commentary focuses on the workforce issues that are of concern to all of us and appeared in Achieve’s Perspective Newsletter yesterday.

The U.S. workforce has undergone significant changes in the past few decades. The development of new, innovative technologies, the shift to a knowledge-based economy, and the growth of the global marketplace mean employers across all industries are putting a higher premium on skilled and educated workers than ever before.

Business leaders understand the importance of qualified talent. According to the 2013 Business Roundtable (BRT) report Taking Action on Education and Workforce Preparedness, “a nation’s capacity to develop a skilled, prepared workforce is inextricably linked to the quality of its education system.” The report suggests that such a workforce is the cornerstone of economic competitiveness.

Yet, during a related survey of BRT members, more than 95 percent of CEOs indicated that their companies have suffered from a lack of qualified talent.  (69% of Massachusetts employers reported difficulty filling jobs in the pollrecently conducted for MBAE, Associated Industries of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Business Roundtable.)  The report went on to reveal that “the long-term negative impacts of this ‘skills gap’ on workers, families, businesses, governments and the economy are potentially profound and far reaching.”

Additionally, the 2014 Corporate Learning Factbook published by Bersin and Deloitte reports that U.S. spending on corporate training surpassed $70 million last year. More than 70 percent of the companies surveyed cite a “capabilities gap” as the reason for spending on training, and many of the respondents report that a new hire still needs three to five years of experience before becoming a fully productive member of the company.

To help business leaders think more strategically about their support for college and career readiness, Achieve has collaborated with the GE Foundation and AT&T, along with Chevron, the Prudential and Travelers Foundations, and Alcoa to create the Business Center for a College and Career Ready America. Through the Business Center’s suite of featured tools and resources, the site explores college and career readiness in economic terms and examines issues of competitiveness, the skills gap, STEM training, and more through the lens of America’s education-to-workforce pipeline. The Business Center advocates college and career readiness for all students.

You can download the #BizEdu mobile app via Google Play or the Apple Store, and follow the Business Center @Biz4Edu on Twitter.