'Why Companies Aren't Getting the Employees They Need': The Author Follows Up (employee, college degree)
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My article in The Journal Report on Leadership—"Why Companies Aren't Getting the Employees They Need"—generated an avalanche of reader response. In that piece I argued that companies too often put the blame on our education system for their inability to find the skilled workers they need. Instead, I wrote, companies "need to drop the idea of finding perfect candidates and look for people who could do the job with a bit of training and practice."
My favorite paragraph from the article, which I really believe hits the nail on the head:
A few employers said the amount of money they had to pay to get the talent they needed was outrageous. Indeed, many of the employers who report that there is a shortage of qualified candidates go on to say that qualified candidates won't take the jobs at the wages they are offering them. At this point, it may be uncomfortable but still necessary to bring up how markets work. There is a difference between saying we can't find anyone to hire and saying that we can't or don't want to pay the wages needed to hire. Just as there is no shortage of diamonds even though they are expensive—you can buy all you want at the market price—not being able or willing to pay the market price for talent is not a shortage.
Pretty much what I've seen. Needing to pay more than $10 an hour and give benefits or worse training to highly skilled/educated employees is a shortage and we need to have an h1-b free for all because Americans are too stupid and lazy for these jobs.
I think it's about time companies figure out what they value most:
- a 4 (or more) year college degree in a relevant field
OR
- X years of full time, relevant job experience
They keep asking for both and I'm just sitting over here like "How was I supposed to get x years of full time experience while in school getting the degree that you also specifically ask for?"
I went into college under the impression that as long as I get a degree and maintain decent grades, have volunteer experience, and work part time all through college that it would help me get a good job. Just doing the things I've listed have now become a bare minimum. Employers want honor roll students, an internship every summer, full time experience, etc.
My article in The Journal Report on Leadership—"Why Companies Aren't Getting the Employees They Need"—generated an avalanche of reader response. In that piece I argued that companies too often put the blame on our education system for their inability to find the skilled workers they need. Instead, I wrote, companies "need to drop the idea of finding perfect candidates and look for people who could do the job with a bit of training and practice."
My favorite paragraph from the article, which I really believe hits the nail on the head:
A few employers said the amount of money they had to pay to get the talent they needed was outrageous. Indeed, many of the employers who report that there is a shortage of qualified candidates go on to say that qualified candidates won't take the jobs at the wages they are offering them. At this point, it may be uncomfortable but still necessary to bring up how markets work. There is a difference between saying we can't find anyone to hire and saying that we can't or don't want to pay the wages needed to hire. Just as there is no shortage of diamonds even though they are expensive—you can buy all you want at the market price—not being able or willing to pay the market price for talent is not a shortage.
Companys are not willing to "invest" a bunch of money into training just to have the employee take that training and quit as soon as they have the new skills. You should not expect to get paid top dollar for you time AND get free training. You are paid for the value you bring to the orgainization. A new employee with no skills is not worth as much as an employee who can put in a full day of productive work.
I would bet that if companys could sue employees for reimbursement of training if they quit before working for x number of months or years they would be more willing to take a chance on them.
Companys are not willing to "invest" a bunch of money into training just to have the employee take that training and quit as soon as they have the new skills. You should not expect to get paid top dollar for you time AND get free training. You are paid for the value you bring to the orgainization. A new employee with no skills is not worth as much as an employee who can put in a full day of productive work.
I would bet that if companys could sue employees for reimbursement of training if they quit before working for x number of months or years they would be more willing to take a chance on them.
I think what you're saying is true. Companies don't want to invest in someone just to have them leave. But even then, finding entry level jobs is SO hard.
I feel like companies are slowly weeding out entry level jobs altogether.
There are so many jobs especially in science one cannot get the experience they want without some sort of job specific training. Colleges teach organic chemistry and general chemistry but they do not teach polyurethane formulations, or paint chemistry. They teach software but not your proprietary system. By eliminating training and internships they are creating their own shortage.
I can say I never recieved anything more than very minimal training on the job. A lot I had to teach myself through trial and error, industry specific discussion groups, and other electronic resources. If information is out there I will find it and use it to learn. But even that has its limits.
As for candidates quitting after getting the training, that means that the company does not properly reevaluate the employee's new worth to the company. Most people quit for another position because they are not properly valued or bad management. Fix those and companies won't have to worry about it.
Companys are not willing to "invest" a bunch of money into training just to have the employee take that training and quit as soon as they have the new skills. You should not expect to get paid top dollar for you time AND get free training. You are paid for the value you bring to the orgainization. A new employee with no skills is not worth as much as an employee who can put in a full day of productive work.
I would bet that if companys could sue employees for reimbursement of training if they quit before working for x number of months or years they would be more willing to take a chance on them.
I'm sure if employers asked employees to sign fixed term contracts for employees there would be many employees(the majority) who would agree to sign such contracts where their employment was for 2-3 years by contract. But of course an employer wouldn't be caught dead signing such a contract. So things are the way they are.
Companys are not willing to "invest" a bunch of money into training just to have the employee take that training and quit as soon as they have the new skills. You should not expect to get paid top dollar for you time AND get free training. You are paid for the value you bring to the orgainization. A new employee with no skills is not worth as much as an employee who can put in a full day of productive work.
I would bet that if companys could sue employees for reimbursement of training if they quit before working for x number of months or years they would be more willing to take a chance on them.
We contract and H1B workers sign those everytime. And its all for the company's and the agencies protection, it's one way. sometimes we even required to buy $8million professional insurance coverage... another thing for the purpose of sharing risks
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