Washington DC - A newly released research paper warns that employers and policymakers are in danger of ignoring the potential of today’s adult workers to meet near and middle term skill shortages in the workplace.(See attached.) The paper“Workforce Futures: Working Adults and the Workplace Revolution” by Garrison Moore and Robert Bowman, directed to employers, employees educators, policy makers, is a rigorously researched document that includes more than 30 charts and graphs clearly illustrating the sometimes-arcane world of labor market statistics concerning working adults.
The findings point out the myths of many popular beliefs while clearly demonstrating from the data the real facts and attainable solutions to the current skills shortages found in the American workforce.
The findings include:
- Most of the future US workforce is already on the job despite the retirement of the baby boom generation - 84 percent of those working today will still on the job 10 years from now and two thirds will still be there in 2035.
- Conversely, the research shows that young people entering the workforce make up a very small part of the workforce – less than two percent a year.
- Declining workforce participation has its roots in young people staying in high school and going on to college rather than adults dropping out or retiring early.
- The nature of work is changing almost beyond recognition. Occupations largely involving routine tasks have fallen sharply in past five years while occupations requiring more knowledge, thinking, and flexibility have continued healthy growth little affected by the worst recession in 70 years.
- The education and training of today’s workforce is largely catch as catch can for working adults. Today’s education and training structure is uncoordinated with many hurdles for working adults and little employer involvement. Community colleges offer the best opportunity.
- The authors suggest that the most effective way to raise the skills of working adults is through an employer-centered active workforce policy (rather than just adding other uncoordinated programs) meeting the needs of all working adults and employers in local and regional labor markets.
The complete report was released today by Innovation America and can be downloaded at http://www.innovationamerica.us/images/PDF/workforce-futures-feb-2-2016-3pm.pdf
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