LR gathering focuses on work life of the future
Children need to be prepared for new technologies, new skills, attendees told
The robots are coming, and so are self-driving cars, 3-D printed houses and yetto-be-imagined technologies that will fundamentally change the nature of work.
That was the message at Thursday’s “Age of Agility” forum, which brought educators and business leaders together in Little Rock to discuss preparing Arkansas students for a working life that will require them to adapt to the shifting parameters set by technology, and in which developments such as the release of the iPhone or the founding of Amazon can create or disrupt industries.
“This is the most important conversation going on in the U.S. today,” said Randy Zook, president and CEO of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce. “[We need to create] lives filled with choices rather than dead ends.”
Thursday’s event was the ninth forum on a multicity tour led by America Succeeds, a national advocacy organization that spearheads discussions on education and workforce matters. America Succeeds partnered with local affiliate Arkansas Learns to present the event at the Little Rock Marriott.
Arkansas Learns President and CEO Gary Newton said in a telephone interview before the conference that he hoped the event would be as much about connecting Ar-
kansans with lesser-known opportunities, such as those in “smokestack” industries or at local companies with global reach like Tyson Foods, as about preparing tomorrow’s workers.
“There are over 30,000 open, high-wage jobs … in the state right now,” he said. “We have to do a better job as a state … in making sure we make very efficient the delivery of those industry-relevant skills so Arkansans can go to work in those jobs.”
Before an audience of more than 100 people that included educators, representatives from education nonprofits, health care professionals, business executives and a handful of state legislators, the think tank American Enterprise Institute’s visiting fellow John Bailey screened videos outlining the pace at which technology has advanced.
Without human input, a computer took just 40 days to teach itself to beat the world’s masters at Go (an Asian strategy game thought to be more difficult than chess); self-driving cars can drive away and park themselves after the driver leaves the vehicle; and 3-D printed jet engines are beginning to be used in commercial aircraft.
“What it’s going to do is start quietly chipping away at different aspects of our work,” said Bailey, describing a factory that uses advanced robotics to cut human labor by 70 percent.
He also pointed to the way the economy is changing to disadvantage people with less education — jobs that require only a high school diploma are projected to grow more slowly than those that require postsecondary education through 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — and how increased automation exacerbates regional disparities in job growth.
One takeaway, Bailey said, is that educators and business leaders need to work on policy solutions and programs — such as apprenticeships and technical schools — for kindergarten-through-12th-grade students and for workers in changing fields. Specialized education links people to jobs related to innovations like drones, which now help farmers assess land or city planners map infrastructure, he said.
Representatives from Walmart, J.B. Hunt, Nucor Steel Arkansas and Vexus Advanced Marine Performance stood in front of a poster depicting a robotic hand holding
an apple as they discussed key ideas in the preparation of tomorrow’s workforce. The speakers discussed ways in which technology already is changing what happens in their workplaces.
At Walmart, global public policy director Sean Thurman said the company is using technology that helps unload trucks as much as four hours faster than before, while virtual-reality headsets help prepare workers for scenarios such as interacting with hazardous materials.
These shifts don’t necessarily mean rank-and-file employees will be made obsolete or replaced, speakers said. Instead, employers will look for candidates who are prepared to program and operate new technological tools and logistics systems, and there will still be a need for people who can practice “soft skills” — “the ability to problem-solve, to work together, to empathize,” Thurman said.
In a poll run through an app by America Succeeds during the event, 92 percent of those in attendance said the current education system needs a “major overhaul” to prepare students for these workplace changes.
State Sen. Jane English, who chairs that chamber’s education committee, led a discussion with a panel of four from initiatives in states that included Indiana, Texas, Florida and Kentucky. The group discussed workforce development programs being implemented in local schools that they hope will prepare students for an unpredictable labor market.
Chief among their ideas was the concept of partnering with local business leaders to appear on campuses and introduce the needs of different industries from an early age — a “kindergarten to career” approach, as English put it — and to consult with educators on curriculums.
Panelists also advocated for programs that connect students to skills-based learning, such as offering internships and technical certificates to high school students, and for assessing course offerings for their relevance to high-quality job opportunities with potential for career growth.
Jody Kent, a vice president of marketing and communications for Universal Technical Institute, also proposed a shift in perspective from the imperative that every student must attend a four-year college. She said some opportunities available to graduates of technical programs often pay better just out of school and leave graduates with fewer student loans than traditional university programs.
“You can earn six figures as a technician in this country, if you work really hard and you work for a good employer,” she said. Her institution considers industry, rather than students, to be its ultimate customer, a perspective she acknowledged was somewhat controversial.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson also mentioned falling enrollment at some four-year universities in the state — a trend that he said was acceptable if it means some Arkansans are going directly to work.
Hutchinson declared his support for innovative education and workforce development programs, and floated the idea of changes to a current restriction that he said prohibits some two-year colleges from marketing their programs beyond a certain geographic area.
In breakout sessions and during intermissions, event participants seemed enthusiastic about the day’s conversations and what they might indicate about the future.
While Kristian Cartwright, director of school engagement for Project Lead the Way’s STEM-curriculum programs in Arkansas and Oklahoma, commented on the lack of emphasis on under-served populations (such as encouraging girls with an interest in math from an early age), he said he was interested
to hear an ongoing theme of job-readiness skills.
“We have to teach problem-solving, and we have to teach our students perseverance and grit,” he said.
Education, dyslexia and “school choice” advocate Jennifer Stephens said the event “makes me very hopeful for Arkansas.” She wants the business community to “join hands” with parents and families on the education front to help correct regional disparities in local schools, such as between Little Rock and west Little Rock, she said.
Although the event didn’t propose a straightforward road map to create a flexible, prepared workforce, Stephens viewed it as a brainstorming session between the diverse education and business-world constituencies.
Newton, the Arkansas Learns president, hoped it would set an agenda for workplace development and education policy for the coming legislative session and “provide a blueprint for best practices, coming up in this unknown world.”
“These kids keep having birthdays,” said Tim Taylor, America Succeeds co-founder and executive director, as he screened a video clip of a robot that taught itself to do backflips.
“We need to make sure we’re preparing them for the world that they’re going to live in,” he said. “When machines can do this, it leaves us, as humans, to find other things that they can’t do.”