If we want to cross the skills gap, we need to rethink how we educate members of the younger generation in ways that encourage them to seek out valuable skills.
Crossing the skills gap means rethinking how we connect education and employment
I’m not breaking any news by saying that we’re experiencing a severe skills gap here in the U.S. In fact, I wrote a whole book highlighting the issue and how what we’re really dealing with is an “Awareness Gap” where members of the younger generations aren’t always aware that there are lucrative and fulfilling career paths that exist outside of the standard “College for all” mantra.
This Awareness Gap continues to loom as a threat to the growth of the economy. According to research by Gartner, the gap has grown to now include a severe shortage of young professionals with IT skills. In particular, recent grads lack an understanding of areas like AI, quantum computing and cybersecurity—which casts some doubt on the future of technology and its ability to improve our lives.
“Our prospect of a Jetsons-style future is bleak because the future generation isn’t well-equipped to build it,” says Dave Sherwood, CEO of BibliU, an education technology platform.
In Sherwood’s opinion, our curriculum has not caught up to our lofty future tech goals—or how we might address our overall skills gap. Which is why it might be time to take a hard look at the status quo within higher education and consider where it’s falling short. Younger people deserve a chance to expand their career horizons in ways that allow them to lead the life they aspire to. Education can be the ticket to that bright future—if we’re deliberate about helping the next generation achieve it.
Why the gap exists
It’s worth looking back to understand how the current skills gap came to be—starting when the U.S. economy boomed after World War II.
“That was the result of several factors, notably changing demographics and educational abundance,” says Sherwood. “Birth and immigration rates rose quickly, and with those, the prospect of educational attainment.”
The U.S. economy has since grown rapidly, especially over the past two decades (particularly relative to other advanced economies around the world), which created a considerable number of highly skilled jobs, specifically in the tech sector.
“The percentage of the U.S. population with advanced degrees has also significantly increased,” says Sherwood. “However, not all degrees are providing the required skills that the market needs.”
Beyond the IT sector, skills gaps also exist in other areas of the economy, such as manufacturing and retail. There is a shortage of workers in the skilled trades industries, for example, which is growing more acute every year.
The other major factor in the growth of the skills gap is the aging of the Boomer generation, who are exiting the workforce—leaving open highly-skilled jobs that members of younger generations have not had the time or training to fill.
By 2030, forecasts predict that all Boomers will have left the job market—leaving some 85 million open jobs, according to a Korn Ferry study on the Global Talent Crunch. The cost? A projected $8.5 trillion in lost revenue.
Skills over degrees
Beyond the sizable future hit to the economy caused by the skills gap, it could also have the ripple effect of causing a large group of educated young individuals to become unsure of their place in the job market. The current trend of dwindling college enrollments and lack of access to degrees will stifle younger generations’ opportunities when it comes to higher-paying jobs.
“There seems to be less room to grow for those without a college education than there once was,” says Sherwood. “These individuals remain in lower-paying positions, often devoid of the opportunity to move up the ladder. The current skills gap is already beginning to highlight this problem, and seven more years of this trend could lead to an even more underutilized workforce.”
But a blanket “college for all” solution won’t address the skills gap, either. Even those with a degree from a higher education institution may suffer this fate if widespread vocational training does not become a reality. We’ve reached a point in time where skills themselves have become more valuable than degrees.
“With a lack of skills training, people from the younger generations could be stuck in low-wage positions,” says Sherwood.
Working together
If we want to start addressing the threat that a widening skills gap poses not just to the younger generations but our economy as a whole, we need to take a multi-pronged approach. It all starts with meeting young people where they are at.
One solution is to start removing barriers to higher education and encouraging more enrollment through the expansion of dual credit programs, which cut the time and cost needed for students to achieve a degree.
“By making education more accessible and affordable, we can increase college enrollments,” says Sherwood. “At the same time, universities and colleges need to better align their courses with practical skills.”
He points to an example in the U.K., where apprenticeships give degree status to those obtaining skills in trade areas like HVAC, while gaining weekly work experience.
“Schools that address this gap by providing this type of real-world instruction will have an advantage when it comes to increasing and retaining their enrollment,” says Sherwood.
Outside of the educational sphere, companies can also offer skills training programs such as apprenticeships to draw in candidates and give them the tools to be successful in their respective industry.
Put another way, schools and employers need to team up in new ways to help provide access to members of the younger generation to gain the kinds of skills that make the skills gap a thing of the past. We need to connect the dots between school and work, because far too many people are getting lost in the middle.
Crossing the gap
The key to crossing the skills gap is to get the message across loud and clear that while college can be a viable alternative for some young people, it’s not for everyone. We need to emphasize that the college degree no longer reigns supreme when it comes to building the skills young people need to land the careers to support the kind of lifestyle they want to lead.
But we also can’t make the mistake of assuming that because we build it, they will come. It’s only when we can show young people a light at the end of the tunnel, a reward for their effort that is personally meaningful to them, that they will truly be motivated to cross the skills gap on their own.
Real progress will only come when we can connect the dots, shift the education and employment paradigm and align the interests of everyone—employers, educators and young people alike.
