SCHOOLS vs SKILLS

To quote Peter Drucker (Post-Capitalist Society, p. 24), saying: a skill "could not be explained in words, whether spoken or written. It could only be demonstrated." And, "the only way to learn a techne [skill, in Greek] was through apprenticeship and experience."

Would you want a fresh graduate from med school to operate on you, or would you prefer for him to have at least successfully finished an internship ( a form of apprenticeship ) at a hospital first?

What we need is a Technical Center, ( ie:a teaching college/factory ) where we may obtain the experience needed.

What should this "Tech Center" look like ? Please share your vision of what this Center could be.

ALMOST TWO YEARS LATER !!!

Well folks, there has been almost no change as to the peril of our manufacturing companies in need of skilled workers here in NEO.
Yes, we have had a few name changes, a few more promises, a few more people saying, "We are doing that already", and still the want ads and all the head hunters are frantically trying to poach skilled labor from the guy next door!
Guess what? The guy next door does not have them either!

More to come at regular intervals.

ROBOTS, AUTOMATION, JOBS??

We are in the 21st Century. The notion of robots taking jobs is totally absurd. Innovation and technology can only add prosperity.

Productivity not creation of jobs is where it is at.

Here are a few views from the web.

Robots costing jobs is nonsense. Technology merely increases productivity (thus increasing the standard of living), increases in technology does not take away jobs.

This is from: Atanu Dey

Employment is a good thing but one should remember that employment is not the goal of an economic system—it is an instrument for the real goal of the economy which is to produce goods and services for the population and to distribute them in some reasonably fair way. I for one would be happy to be unemployed if only I get the stuff that I need to keep b and s together.

What would we do if we resisted the computer and left the short hand, punch cards and typists in jobs?

A virtual tour of a glass factory:
VW' s Phaeton assembly plant robots & people. Today's manufacturing!

SHORTAGE OF SKILLED WORKERS !!!

We have been saying this for the last 10-15 years. We need skilled people, now !

Read More:
Tom

OFFSHORING BENEFITS ALL

Offshoring is to the benefit of all. It is a mutual understanding that is thousands of years old. It should be beneficial to all parties involved.

The current problem in offshoring is that offshoring is happening to fast with too many people, at a time that the US is most vulnerable. Vulnerable because of the rate of domestic savings and huge deficits.

In order to combat or compete in this huge arena, we must have strong leadership in the government sector, the corporate world as well as the average citizen. The government servants should not worry about whose votes or money support they are not going to get in the next election. The corporate CFO must look beyond the next quarters’ dividends. The average citizen must save.

Back to basics! You can and you will be replaced for a more productive and less expensive model. All it takes is $500.USD for one H-1B visa and you are history, and if your personal motor skills are not needed it is simpler and less expensive, just offshore it.

DOOM OF THE DOLLAR - 6 min. video

Tom

How Do We Diffuse or Slow Down Offshoring?

Projections are that in the 21st century, 60% of the new jobs will require skills held by only 20% of todays' workforce. ( Senator Lieberman )

In the report, by the Philadelphia Task Force on Workforce Development, warned that the skills base of the U.S. workforce will continue to erode without concerted efforts to train and retrain employees. Pressures from global competition, technological change, the pending retirement of the baby boomers create constant imbalances in the supply and demand for skills that our current workforce system is addressing inadequately. Local partnerships are key to helping communities, employers and employees confront these pressures. ( read more. )

There is a growing skills gap. More than 80% of manufacturers say they are having trouble finding qualified employees. Sixty percent of manufacturers typically reject half of all applicants as unqualified because of the lack of basic skill. Moreover, entry-level skills in manufacturing have become more sophisticated, requiring more education and training to get to the first rung. ( read more. )

By having an educated and the highest skilled workforce we can overcome the offshoring. By superior products, productivity. We have to invest into the people and technology. Education and skills training are a good start towards curbing offshoring. Investing in people and infrastructure are the keys.

Tom

THE IMPORTANCE OF MANUFACTURING IN THE US ECONOMY

It is difficult to underestimate the importance of manufacturing in the US economy. According the 1997 U.S. Economic census, the payroll of the American manufacturing sector is 14% larger than the next two largest sectors (finance and insurance, retail trade) combined, despite having 15% fewer employees[2]! Some have said that other industries, such as financial services and trade will replace manufacturing in the future. An examination of the economic sectors refutes this argument. There are only four economic sectors that generate material wealth: agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and construction. Other sectors, such as services and trade, redistribute this wealth, and are built on the products created by the wealth generators. Of the four wealth-creating sectors, manufacturing plays a unique role because, unlike agriculture and mining, it is not directly limited by natural resources and, unlike construction, most manufacturing products are easily transferable across national and international borders. As a result, manufacturing is and will continue to be the fundamental base for the economic health and security of the United States.

The economic impact of the manufacturing sector is not limited to direct employment of manufacturing employees. A recent University of Michigan study concluded that more than 6.5 “spin off” jobs (including trade, service, and indirect manufactuirng) were created in 1998 for every direct automotive manufacturing job.

Read more:
Tom

CHAIRMAN ALAN GREENSPAN ON SKILLS

All industry is saying we need practical skills not just 4-yr english degrees. This article is a history of education since 1920's, how we got where we are at. We rose to the task in the 1920's and 193o's, the question is how are we going to compete globally today and tomorrow?

"Colleges have been in the forefront of teaching the types of skills that build on workers' previous experiences to create new job skills . Currently almost one in three of their enrollees are aged thirty or older, a statistic that suggests that these individuals have previous job experience. The impressive expansion of these learning centers attests to their success in imparting both general and practical job-related learning. A rising proportion of the population is also taking advantage of both general adult education and work-related instruction. The fact that, over the years, more than 94 percent of the workforce has been employed, on average, indicates that U.S. workers apparently have been sufficiently skilled and motivated to learn the new tasks that enable them to earn, on average, an ever-rising real wage."

Greenspan and education, read more:
Tom

" THE COST OF OFFSHORING"

According to Richard C. Peters, CMfgE, PE, of Bucyrus, Ohio, is the president of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) for 2004. Peters is chief manufacturing engineer at The Timken Co.

One thing is that the cost of offshoring is more than just the loss of jobs. When products are no longer made in the United States, the skills necessary to make them will disappear. Resurrecting those skills is in many cases impossible. Technological innovation springs from research. And manufacturing—which accounts for 60 percent of the U.S. economy and about 62 percent of exports—still supports nearly two-thirds of all research and development. Lee Iacocca once reasoned that ideas spring up from plant floor and assembly lines. If you don’t see things being made, you’re less likely to think up better ways to design, engineer and manufacture them.

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