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The idea that American workers are being left in the dust because they lack technological savvy does not stand up to scrutiny. Our focus should be on coordination and communication between workers and employers.
Technology enthusiasts and entrepreneurs are among the loudest voices declaiming this conventional wisdom (see "The Hunt for Qualified Workers").
Two recent developments have heightened debate over the idea of a "skills gap": an unemployment rate below 5 percent, and the growing fear that automation will render less-skilled workers permanently unemployable.
Proponents of the idea tell an intuitively appealing story: information technology has hit American firms like a whirlwind, intensifying demand for technical skills and leaving unprepared American workers in the dust. The mismatch between high employer requirements and low employee skills leads to bad outcomes such as high unemployment and slow economic growth.
The problem is, when we look closely at the data, this story doesn't match the facts. What's more, this view of the nation's economic challenges distracts us from more productive ways of thinking about skills and economic growth while promoting unproductive hand-wringing and a blinkered focus on only the supply side of the labor market—that is, the workers.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608707/the-myth-of-the-skills-gap/
What do you think, is there a shortage of skilled workers ??
(Score: 5, Touché) by Grishnakh on Friday August 25 2017, @04:43PM (5 children)
There's a serious shortage of highly-qualified tech workers, and it's exacerbated by all the Negative Nancies and other whiners and complainers who seem to think these jobs should be highly-paid. Tech workers should be happy to have a job doing work they love, so they should be happy to get paid $30k or so, and as much as $50k for the most experienced ones. Spare me all your whining about student loans; if you live in your car, you can dedicate your salary to paying off your student loans. The other thing tech workers whine too much about is working hours; they should be happy to spend all their waking hours at the office, except for the time they spend sleeping in their car or showering at the Y. Companies need to keep salaries low so that they can hire the best executive talent and provide them with extremely generous compensation packages. Executives deserve a lot of money, and tech workers deserve only enough to survive on, and should just be happy to be helping the executives buy megayachts with their labor.
Honestly, the level of entitlement among tech workers is just insane. Who do you people think you are?
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday August 25 2017, @05:03PM (4 children)
> if you live in your car
Oops, you missed there. Cars are expensive luxury items. Scrappy, independent tech workers live in tents.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday August 25 2017, @05:14PM (3 children)
You can get a used car for as low as $500. This advice isn't helpful for all tech workers, as cars are a big inconvenience in some urban areas (like NYC), but there's tons of tech employers outside those places and a car is a necessity to work there. So tech workers should be happy buying old used cars and living in them if necessary, or when they're raking in more money they can upgrade to living in a small apartment with a few roommates.
The fundamental problem is this crazy idea that highly-educated and experienced tech workers are entitled to being paid enough to enjoy a middle-class lifestyle.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Friday August 25 2017, @08:32PM (2 children)
Having a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in is "middle class lifestyle" now? That's sad.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday August 25 2017, @08:43PM
Having a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in is "middle class lifestyle" now? That's sad.
See, there's that entitlement mentality I was talking about. You should be happy to be getting enough to pay off your loans in 20 years and to eat and afford a Y membership for showering. You'll also have enough money to afford a computer which you can use to keep your tech skills sharp, so you can provide more value to your employer, so your CEO can afford a bigger yacht so his family can enjoy nicer vacations. Stop being so selfish and thinking about yourself all the time, and think more about what you can do for your company and your CEO.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday August 25 2017, @08:59PM
Pretty sure Grishnakh is being satirical here. Poe's Law strikes again!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...