Chao Labors to Help America's Workforce

0 Comments | Insight on the News, July 2, 2001 | by Jennifer G. Hickey

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao focuses on preparing a new generation of workers for the ongoing U.S. transition to a more technology-based economy.

Democratic consultant dames Carville used the mantra, "It's the economy, stupid," to help Bill Clinton defeat then-president George H. W. Bush in 1992 by focusing on the primary worry of Americans entering the last decade of the 20th century. Summing up her priorities for the 21st century, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao might say, "It's the declining workforce, stupid."

Economists, pundits and investors may concentrate on the day-to-day convulsions of the stock market, but Chao will have no part of being a day-trader in human lives. She instead is focused on preparing the nation's workers for the opportunities and challenges facing them in a continually evolving and changing marketplace.

As the nation undergoes a planned transformation from a manufacturing-based economy to one based on technology in an ever-expanding global marketplace, American workers and their employers face unprecedented problems of adaptation to change.

Recognizing the obstacles ahead, Chao announced the creation of the 21st Century Workforce Initiative on May 6. Envisioned as more than simply a training program, the focus is on expanding opportunities for those already in the work force and opening the doors to participation for those overlooked in the past.

The first major initiative event is a one-day Washington summit featuring a variety of speakers running the gamut from influential labor leaders and business bigwigs to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

In addition to hearing from Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift, Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Union President John Wilhelm and Jeff Taylor, founder of the job-seeker's Website, Monster.com, visitors will be offered a chance to pursue job opportunities, as well as actual jobs, in the Washington area.

The Taiwan-born Chao has a background shaped by a wide variety of experiences in the public and private sectors. She is aware not only of the multitude of paths from which today's workers may choose, but also of the mazes, roadblocks and deadfalls that can develop for workers in even the best economy in the world.

Insight: Will the Labor Department be hosting other 21st Century Workforce conferences and events around the country?

Elaine Chao: I don't think it is the role of the government or of this department to act as the nation's job fair We cannot do that, nor should we try to put ourselves in charge of training the nation's workers. Even if we desired to, there's no way the Department of Labor could do that.

An appropriate role for the federal government is to act as a catapult to launch into our national dialogue the issues of a declining workforce and the need for better training and education. The power of this country and our strength do not come from the government but from the people who go out every day to make a better life for themselves.

Insight: What do you see as the biggest difficulties now facing workers and employers?

EC: I think if you ask corporate executives to name their main concern they will answer that it is a declining workforce in which there are not enough highly skilled workers. With the baby-boom generation aging and generous pension plans allowing more people to retire at earlier ages, there is going to be a shortage of workers in the next 20 years.

In some areas these problems are more acute than others. One of these is IT, or information technology.

It is very hard to find information-technology workers, and when you do you have to pay a premium to get them. There may have been an economic boom in Silicon Valley, but there was a lag in getting the higher-skilled workers needed to support it.

Insight: What is your department doing to help solve the need for more educated and skilled workers?

EC: We are beginning a more aggressive outreach to members of society who hitherto have been ignored. We're reaching out to individuals who have disabilities and handicaps as part of the president's New Freedom Initiative. The idea is to help people find a place in the workforce so they will be able to take care of themselves.

As far as educating workers, we have a whole host of programs to train for a variety of jobs. But it starts at the beginning, where we must have a good educational system to foster a quality workforce.

Then we need to ask how we can help graduates transition into a good job. In fact, we have begun a dialogue with Education Secretary Rod Paige and the Department of Education to find ways to ensure not only that graduates are prepared to enter the workplace but that they know they have ways to do so.

Insight: In recent days, economic figures were released showing unemployment remaining steady at about 4 percent. Do you take hope in those figures, or do you see trouble ahead?

EC: First, I should stress those are only for one month, and the economic indices are mixed. The May unemployment figures are the first not to show unemployment increasing and, while it was comforting to see the unemployment rate stabilize, those numbers are only tentative. Let's see what we have when the overall trend line is established.