Readiness for Workforce a Shared Responsibility

In his opinion column in The New York Times, Tom Friedman wrote again about how the game has changed and how Americans have to be prepared for new jobs and new technologies.

The broader theme he often touts is that the world is made flat by new technology and woe to those who do not adapt.  Whether you believe him or not, I found the identification of four basic job skill sets towards the end of his column a useful framing.  He quotes a vice chancellor from the California community colleges system as observing that employers look first to those who are “ready now”, then to those who will be “ready soon”, and finally to those who are “work ready”.  Those “far from ready” are just left out.

The gradation of readiness for the work force to me is two sided.  Yes, our public K-12 schools and colleges have to prepare people to be college and career ready so they can slot in as close as possible to the “ready now” category.  The missing piece for me is what many businesses are not doing to supplement training to embrace the “ready soon” or the “work ready” job candidates.  I believe that many businesses have abandoned much of their responsibility for training.  Budgets have been cut for training.  They look to schools to do more.  Ultimately there has to be a meeting in the middle for responsibility and cost sharing where K-12 schools and colleges prepare students for the workplace by getting most to the “work ready” level and then businesses supplement with more job-specific training.

My belief is that not only have the rules changed for students and schools but that many businesses too must step up and change how they look at and support job specific training.  We may not be able to address the paucity of business training directly as we strive for student college and career readiness but we should not lose sight of the shared responsibility.