A New Jobs Crisis
After years with millions out of work under President Barack Obama, America now faces a new woe: Firms can’t find enough workers to fill their vacant slots.
A big reason for that is that too many lack the skills for the new kind of jobs today. Which is why the executive order President Trump signed this month focusing on the problem is so welcome.
Consider: In May, unemployment fell to its lowest in nearly half a century; in June, job openings (6.64 million) topped the number of folks looking for work (6.56 million), for the first time ever. Thank the economic revival sparked by Trump’s tax cuts and deregulation for that.
At the same time, though, the share of workers who have jobs or are seeking one has been stuck at historically low levels. That means a lot of folks have given up on work. Many feel they don’t have the skills needed for the jobs available today.
And they’re right. Technology is driving profound changes in the job market. Nearly 20 percent of positions today didn’t exist in 1980; tens of millions are expected to vanish over the next decade or so. Already, businesses say they’re struggling to find employees with the right skill sets. So getting properly trained workers isn’t just for
their benefit; US economic growth depends on it. Trump gets that. His order sets up a new panel, the National Council for the American Worker, and an advisory board (with corporate leaders, jobtraining and education experts, etc.) to find ways to boost retraining for older workers and steer kids toward careers where workers are in high demand.
The prez asked his daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, to lead the effort, along with Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett.
The team’s already on the right track. It understands, for instance, that the answer doesn’t have to mean massive new federal funding — but just
smarter funding. It wants to boost the best of the current 41 federal programs (price tag: $17 billion a year) and scrap the worst. It’ll push private firms to step up, too: Just this month, it got 23 to agree to provide 3.8 million job-training opportunities.
The group also seeks better data to match workers with local jobs. For example, the Labor Department now collects info on job needs by industry, but without specifics on actual skills needed.
Plus, the Council hopes to shift the popular mindset that every child must go to college. Too often this only saddles kids with debt, even though plenty of good jobs don’t require BAs. A Georgetown University study last year found 30 million positions with a median pay of $55,000 a year don’t require college. Notably, the construction industry is now badly short on labor.
Looking forward, the rise of new technology and automation will push huge numbers of workers out of their jobs. Companies, employees and the entire nation will be better off if these folks can acquire the right new skills.
No magic pill will make these challenges go away. But the resurgent economy gives the laborhungry private sector an incentive to join in finding answers.
Trump & Co. should waste no time in putting plans in place.