The Albert Shanker Institute and the New Economy Information Service
April 20, 2004
Offshoring - the exporting of U.S. jobs to other lands - has been much in the news lately. The latest report of the Task Force on Workforce Development, a joint project from the Shanker Institute and NEIS, contends that fewer younger workers and the impending wave of retiring baby boomers could create a "low skills equilibrium," wherein employers judge that only low-skill workers are available, tailor their business strategies to this type of workforce, and thus generate disincentives for employers and employees to press for (or obtain) better education. Sort of a recipe for moving into the Third World! To prevent this, the Task Force recommends creating learning partnerships of employers, employees, unions, educators, local government, and community leaders to implement training programs. A large part of this effort will be the creation of "learning representatives" to encourage program enrollment and advise fellow employees of the best training programs for career success. It's a wonkish response, not half so promising as efforts to make the high-school diploma into a true mark of skills and knowledge. (For more on that approach, get acquainted with the American Diploma Project). To read this paper, visit http://www.shankerinstitute.org/Downloads/taskforce-release.html.