Insights from the field

I've just wrapped up a handful of site visits with companies in southern Wisconsin, speaking with HR managers, CEOs and some employees about the "skills gap."  After early rounds of data collection and studying up on the issues, it's clear that the broader issue of the skills gap is far more complex than is often portrayed in the media.  There's a host of issues that employers have with the applicant pool that goes beyond a simple presence/absence of technical skills, or the ability to run a new-fangled laser-directed fabrication machine.  There's the work ethic issue - how about showing up on time for work?  There's the drug test issue - can't have someone with a blood alcohol level of .08 operating a $1m machine (true story!).  There's the inability to work in teams issue, lack of people who work with their hands, and so on.

This last point is really interesting, and I'm hearing from a number of people in industry and academia that they really miss farm kids.  That is, people who grew up working with their hands, working long hours and generally with a solid work ethic, and have the ability to trouble-shoot on the fly.  For the lack of farm kids and general work ethic shortcomings, can there ever be a policy answer to this seemingly cultural set of issues? 

Another insight from the field is that these issues aren't plaguing companies, at least ones that I'm seeing data on, at all levels of the organization.  Hiring management, HR directors, and other similar white collar type of professional positions is a different story than skilled labor.  So the take-home for me at this early stage of this study is that discussions of the skills gap should be far more nuanced and careful than they currently are.  Employers are definitely seeing something in the applicant pool for skilled labor that they don't like - even with the limitations of interviews and anecdotes, that much seems to be clear.  It's also clear that work ethic and communication issues are a major issue, perhaps more than technical abilities or aptitudes. 

And emergent questions that I'm going to pursue include: are these issues common to all job categories?  which types of skills can be addressed by education?  what are the implications of lecture-based or overly didactic instruction for workforce development issues - or, are students who are being trained by teachers adept at inquiry-based instruction going to be in a better position in the job market?