Barbara Bolin, Ph.D.

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Barbara Bolin, Ph.D. bolinb_at_earthlink.net 804-310-
2552
www.bolinenterprises.com
2
Whats This about a Workforce Crisis? Why Are
We In It? and What Are We Doing To Get Out of
It?
3
What Workforce Crisis?
John Russo, president of Ultra Scientific
Analytical Solutions is struggling to fill
openings that require specialized training in a
state where the jobless rate is close to 11. Of
applicants, he says I honestly think theres a
large swath of unemployable. They dont have any
skills at all. William Symonds, director of
the Pathways to Prosperity project at Harvard
says Our system for preparing young adults is
broken. We held on to . . . low-wage,
low-skilled industries for too long, and we
didnt make the strategic long-term investments
in education, says Keith Stokes, Executive
Director of Rhode Island Economic
Development. If we dont address this skills
problem, American businesses will lack the
world-class workforce needed to compete at the
global level, says Penny Prizker, a Chicago
business executive who is advisory board chair of
the Aspen Institutes skills gap campaign.
Skills gap Leaves Firms Without a Worker
Pipeline The Associated Press, June
2011 www.cnbc.com
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What Workforce Crisis?

• More than 93 million adults score at the lower
  levels of national assessments of functional
  literacy skills and are unprepared to enroll in
  postsecondary education or job training.
• While school reform hopes to curb our nations
  workforce problem, an estimated 65 of our
  nations 2020 workforce is already beyond the
  reach of our educational system.
• 40 million Americans have no HS Diploma and more
  than18 million of them are in the labor force
  today.
• 1 million students drop out of HS every year

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1 Million High School Dropouts Each Year
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
7,000 students
Source Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007
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What Workforce Crisis?
WORKER SKILLS TRAINABILITY
WORKPLACE SKILL TRAINING DEMANDS

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Why Are We In It? Take a few moments to write
down single words or very short phrases as
to why YOU think we are in it.

• Im guessing that you may have written things
  like
• Outsourcing/Loss of jobs
• Cheap labor overseas
• Technology
• Illegal workers
• World demographics
• China
• India
• Greed
• Immigration
• Apathy
• Bad teachers
• Underfunded schools
• Lazy kids!
• Lazy parents!

And these are all contributors to the problem .
. . but it is so much more complex than it
appears and there are MANY contributing
factors, some of which are hidden from people
who are not in the workforce development field .
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• In USA,
• dot-com bust
• 9/11
• corporate scandals
• quiet crisis

First Convergence
Global playing field
10 world flatteners
Horizontal ways of adding value

• Main event
• Global, cheaper, easier,
• friction-free collaboration competition
• More productive era for more people
• than ever before
• World market for goods
• Wage race for low-skilled workers
• Education race for knowledge workers

1970s


Businesses individuals adopt new habits,
skills processes
Billions of people (many well-educated) in China,
India, former USSR
2000 and beyond
Third Convergence
Second Convergence
1990s
From Friedman The World Is Flat, 2005
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A Nation At Risk PCs for everyone Computers in
business Manufacturing Tool industry lost Women.
minorities in workplace Steel industry
declines Japan auto industry rises US embraces
quality movement 1980s
9/11 Wars Economic crisis World-wide unrest
unemployment Skills gap 2010
Civil rights and social unrest 1960s
End of WWII
1950s Booms Babies Manufacturing Cars
Construction GI Bill College education
becomes accessible expected Defines
success Leads to middle-management
1970s Japan rises Women in workplace Low birth
rates Oil crisis
1990s WIA/welfare reform Free Trade Tech
boom Mc-Millionaires Me generation Outsourcing R
ise of international middle class in BRIC
countries Too few 18-24 yr-olds in US K-16
Education falls short Globalization of
everything Tech bust
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A Nation At Risk The Imperative For Educational
Reform
Our Nation is at risk. Our once unchallenged
preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and
technological innovation is being overtaken by
competitors throughout the world.

• Whatever the student's educational or work
  objectives, knowledge of the New Basics (rigorous
  Math, English, Social Studies and Computer
  Science requirements) is the foundation of
  success for the after-school years and,
  therefore, forms the core of the modern
  curriculum.
• Grades should be indicators of academic
  achievement so they can be relied on as evidence
  of a student's readiness for further study.
• Instruction in effective study and work skills,
  which are essential if school and independent
  time is to be used efficiently, should be
  introduced in the early grades and continued
  throughout the student's schooling.
• Persons preparing to teach should be required to
  meet high educational standards, to demonstrate
  an aptitude for teaching, and to demonstrate
  competence in an academic discipline.

National Commission on Excellence in Education ,
April 1983
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Keeping America in Business Advancing workers,
businesses, and economic growth
There is a crisis emerging in America
workforce. The future worker shortage in the
United States, the lack of worker skills, the
increasing wage gaps, the disjointed public
programs, and the absence of business
participation all contribute to the crisis. But
most importantly, it is the failure of our nation
to recognize and respond to these challenges that
presents the greatest risk.
102nd. American Assembly, Feb. 6-9, 2003
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The never-ending search for competitive
advantage in the global economy has led all
public policy-makers to focus on education as a
key factor in strengthening competitiveness,
employment and social cohesion. . . . The
pace of technological change worldwide is now so
fast that, to a large extent, we must plan for
the unknown. The only certainty is that education
needs to drive these changes.
Noel Dempsey, Minister for Education (Ireland),
OECD Education Committee Chair, 2004
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In 2004, Canadian research found that, if you
measure actual skills rather than educational
qualifications, human capital becomes a strong
predictor of economic growth.
Counting Heads, The Economist August 2004
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Our high schools were designed 50 years ago to
meet the needs of another age. Until we design
them to meet the needs of this century, we will
be limiting, even ruining, the lives of millions
of Americans every year. If we keep the system
as it is, millions of children will never get a
chance to fulfill their promise. That is
offensive to our values, and its an insult to
who we are.
Bill Gates, Governors Education
Summit Washington DC, Feb 26, 2005
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Part of the skills gap problem stems from a
national high school drop-out rate of 72 and a
national community college remediation rate of
15. Workforce development initiatives such as
the 10,000 per student No Worker Left Behind
in MI has been unsuccessful overall
because dislocated workers were put into college
degree programs for which they were unprepared
and which were often unnecessary. The college
for all mentality is a carry-over from the 1950s
when a 4-year college degree was the ticket to
the middle class. In the decade ending 2018, of
the 47 million jobs available, nearly half will
require only an associates degree, and many will
require only short-term technical training to
close skills gaps.
Skills gap Leaves Firms Without a Worker
Pipeline The Associated Press, June
2011 www.cnbc.com
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Why Are We In It?
Realities of Current Future Workforce Crisis

• Workplace skill needs have changed and will
  continue to change on a global basis.
• There are both worker shortages AND worker skills
  gaps that must be addressed in the U.S. and
  internationally

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Changes in Workforce Skills Needs Across Fifty
Years
Unskilled 12
Skilled 20
Professional 20
Skilled 68
Unskilled 60
Professional 20
1955
2005
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Job Demands Are Shifting
Skilled Jobs
1950 1960 1970 1980
1990 2000 2010
Unskilled Jobs
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Trends in U.S. Job Task Content

• Key Shifts Underway
• Boomers are retiring, leaving manager gaps
• Service jobs now dominate (60 today up from 36
  in 1960) and make up 85 of income

Source The Conference Board The Ill Prepared
U.S. Workforce (2009)
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Jobs of the Future
Of the 30 million new and replacement jobs
between now and 2018
45
63
Source Georgetown University Center on Education
and the Workforce, 2009
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Of 150 Million Adults in Labor Force, 88 Million
have at Least One Educational Barrier
High School Diploma No College
No High School Diploma
18,229,340
51,365,340
8,226,214
5,005,943
5,177,127
Speak English Less Than Very Well
Source U.S. Census Bureau
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2011 Realities

• Business processes are transportable and will
• follow skill sets and trainability

• Global democratization of education and
• access to knowledge and skilled workers

• Traditional approaches to education are fading
• (e.g. on-line universities)

• Stackable skills credentials (may be combined
  with others)
• are the new currency of employment

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What are We Doing To Get Out Of It?

• Employers and employees are turning to
  CERTIFICATIONS
• Intent of certification is to inform the public
  that certified individuals
• have demonstrated a particular degree of
  knowledge and skill
• (Fabrey, 1996)
• CERTIFICATION
• Is a formal validation of knowledge or
  skillbased on a qualifying
• examination. (Drake Prometric, 1995)
• Should provide an objective and consistent
  method of measuring
• competence and ensuring the qualifications of
  technical professionals
• (Microsoft, 1995)
• Measures a persons competence against a given
  standard a
• criterion-referenced test interpretation
  (Shrock Coscarelli, 2000)

PROBLEM 700,000 different certificates are
awarded each year, but many are not
transportable, transferrable, or stackable
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Workforce Skills Progression within and across 16
clusters
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What are We Doing To Get Out Of It?
The crisis is a great opportunity to make changes
that have been needed for years.

• Skills crisis has been clearly identified
• HS educators are listening (at last!) but they
  need help to understand
• changes that are needed
• Awareness among public (parents, students, job
  seekers) is
• lacking but improving
• Some products and materials for applied skills
  development are being
• developed McGraw-Hill is playing a leading role
• Adult educators are key as they are close to the
  majority of
• customers

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What are We Doing To Get Out Of It?
Employers have Three major concerns
with potential and incumbent
employees

1. Poor work ethic

Mainly a social issue that may be fixed because
of new competition for jobs economic
realities

2. Lack of basic learning skills, i.e.
TRAINABILITY for rapidly changing technologies
and careers
3. Want to understand what can people DO, not
just what do they KNOW
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What are We Doing To Get Out Of It?
In 2004, in 7 states, there was recognition that

• Employees are mobile and follow career
  opportunities
• The average worker will change jobs 11 times
• from choice or necessity
• Basic skills are defined and common across
• industry sectors
• A common skills language was required between
• employers educators

The Career Readiness Certificate was designed
to 1) Certify applied skills trainability
(using a common language) and 2) Be the basis
for stackable, portable credentials across all
industries
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What is Career Readiness the CRC?

• Career Readiness--readiness to move on to the
  next phase
• of life
• Further education
• Entry-level work
• Career and advancement

Skill Area Bronze Silver Gold
Reading for Information 3 4 5
Applied Mathematics 3 4 5
Locating Information 3 4 5
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Career Readiness Certificate Levels and
Employability

Bronze Level Core employability skills for
approximately 30 of the jobs Silver Level -
Core employability skills for approximately 65
of the jobs Gold Level - Core employability
skills for approximately 90 of the jobs
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What are We Doing To Get Out Of It?

• More than 1.5 million CRCs have been issued
  across
• 50 states and territories so far
• The CRC
• Has evolved into the CRC in manufacturing,
• apprenticeships, hospitality, health care
• Is being used in innovative community college
• programs (e.g. in MI and SC)
• Is offered as an additional HS graduation
  credential
• Basis for NAM training curricula in 30 colleges
• Is an important component of Workforce Connects
• that combines skills awareness with assessments
• and job search

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• So, we are on our way to solving the problem
• but there is a very long way to go and
• we need your help !
• I hope you will become
• Informed
• Knowledgeable and
• Evangelistic about SKILLS education in our
• education system
• I can now take your questions . . .