The Demand for Education and Skilled Workers

Despite an enormous unemployment rate, many US firms are expressing concerns over finding enough employees to meet their demand. In fact, in a survey by Lloyd's, US executives stated that a lack of workers was their second biggest concern facing the upcoming 2012 fiscal year, falling just behind the concern of losing customers. Why is this the case? The nature of the available jobs has shifted drastically over the last decade. Companies now require highly skilled workers to fill their positions. The education system in America has failed to supply the number of skilled employees required to meet corporate demand. To combat this issue, an increasing number of firms have taken the problem of education into their own hands by providing training and educational opportunities to current or prospective employees. Rather then relying on universities and other educational institutions, many companies, such as Westinghouse Electric Co. have spent "tens of millions" of dollars to invest in educating their workforce. While this is much more capital-intensive then formal universities, executives are much more satisfied with the degree to which they can customize their training programs to meet the specific demands of their firm. As time goes on, the first few months of employment may become an extension of university training, simply tailored to the employing firm.

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