Saturday, June 15, 2013

Unemployment Based on Skills Gap

The New York Times article referenced can be read here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/opinion/sunday/dont-blame-the-work-force.html?ref=unitedstateseconomy&_r=0

There is a common belief that most of the unemployment we see today is because of a skills gap. This means that the good jobs that people want to get, nobody can get because they are unqualified or under-educated. Recent research shows that neither is a reliable reason for the unemployment problem. In a good economy there would be many job openings and few that are unemployed. In April there were 3.8 million job opening and unemployment was still at 7.5% or 11.7 million people. Clearly there are not enough job openings for all those needing work. In this weak economy the real problem is not a skills gap but rather that companies can not justify hiring more workers.

I think there are many reasons that there are so many still unemployed. The jobs available may be less than desirable or people are just unwilling to take a low-paying position. Also with so many needing jobs, employers can be choosy in who they decide to employ. In dealing with the recent recession many are still hesitant to spend money. Not putting money into the economy will only hurt it further. Corporate executives want us to think that we need more educated, more highly trained people to have available into the workforce so they can get government aid in programs to help workers. The real problem is not the skills gap but the lack of money going into the economy. If we don't start spending, companies can't rationalize hiring more employers.

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