Embracing today's global economy

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Sept, 2005 by John A. Challenger

We need to support school-to-work programs, not only in number, but in scope. Government and businesses have to change the recent trend of cutting funds for these initiatives. Some of the most successful programs reach down to the elementary school level to plant seeds that one day may influence career choices.

Most of the current focus is on skilled trades. Programs target kids who are at risk for not attending college. That is fine as far as it goes, but schools and employers should expand into areas such as computer science, math, and engineering, so that the kids who are most likely to go to college are directed into those areas in which worker shortages will be greatest.

We should reconfigure unemployment insurance, earmarking a portion for continuing education. Too often, cash payments act as a disincentive to reenter the workforce. Special funds for the purpose of retraining would help ease the cost burden of education and help move people toward the occupations that have to be filled. Workers at all levels have to keep current with the changing world around us, especially with technology. We need to encourage our employees to take advantage of every educational opportunity offered by companies, government, or grants.

A company I know has 140,000 employees. It has measured the current skill level of each, and then developed a career plan that includes a long-term "skilling" path. Keeping employees' skills current allows the firm to be more flexible in a changing marketplace, and it enables employees to take advantage of new opportunities as they develop throughout their career.

Entrepreneurism must be encouraged as well. Governments and universities should be working together to cultivate innovation and new businesses. For example, the state of New York has invested $620,000,000 of a planned $1,000,000,000 program to establish a network of research and development incubators. The program aims to create leading-edge technology centers through collaboration between the state's university system and private industry.

The fact is that entrepreneurs and small businesses create most American jobs. While the big companies are searching for resources overseas, domestic entrepreneurs are producing resources at home. As the Wall Street Journal reports, "Self-employment and startups are driving the economic recovery [as some] 400,000 Americans went to work for themselves last year." The success of these start-ups means even more jobs, as they become established businesses over time. Many of these entrepreneurs are immigrants, whose optimism, energy, and appetite for risk have fueled our economy for generations. They will continue to do so in the global economy.

We must rally our companies, schools, and country to embrace diversity. We have to broaden and deepen our language skills, encourage international studies and travel, and reach out and engage other cultures. More of our students should study abroad.

It is necessary to learn about other countries' history and read their literature. Today, foreign students know much more about us than we know about them. That must change.