Deficient skill sets plague young America's workplace readiness

Young entrants to the United States’ workforce are on a doomed trajectory because they are inadequately prepared with the skill sets necessary to become global competitors, according to a study. Deficiencies in basic reading and writing skills, as well as more complex applied skills, exist among both high school and college educated entrants, according to the study, “Are They Really Ready To Work?”

“Young people need a range of skills, both basic academic skills as well as the ability to apply these skills and knowledge in the workplace. The survey results indicate that far too many young people are inadequately prepared to be successful in the workplace,” states the collaborative study released by The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Human Resource Management.

The alarming unpreparedness stems from responses collected by the study’s 400 surveyed employers. At the very least, the employers further identified the following skill sets as integral to this workplace preparedness:

‘Poor report card’

The new entrants’ resulting “poor report card” shows 42.6% of employers rated high school level graduates as “deficient” in their overall preparation for entry-level position. These same employers report the severest deficiency ratings in basic skills with writing in English ranking the worst at 72% and in applied skills with written communications at 80.9%.

Two- and four-year college graduates fared slightly better, ranking as “adequate” in their overall preparation at 70.1% and 64.5%, respectively. Despite college degrees, the employer respondents also reported the two- and four-year graduates deficient in writing in English (46.4% and 26.2%, respectively) and in written communications (47.3% and 27.8%).

The U.S’s projected workforce demographics, the study further notes, warrant actions that address solutions to amend these poor ratings. And time is of the essence. Between 2000 and 2015, for example, more than three quarters of newly created jobs will require the mastery of education beyond high school, reports the study. However, 73% of today’s CEOs who rated global competitiveness as “very important" or “most important” for the study say they cannot find qualified new entrants.

“With significant numbers of workers retiring over the next 10 years, the United States is facing a serious challenge in preparing students to meet workplace demands in an increasingly complex, knowledge and technology-based, global economy.”

Businesses must help prepare their newest employees

Sure, society can blame the skill deficit on the individuals affected. However, this study instead advocates that the education and business communities ramp up their activities to provide new entrants with opportunities to learn the basic and applied skills identified by the surveyed employers.

“All of us must do our part to ensure that our students are well prepared for the workforce demands of the 21st century. The education and business communities must agree that applied skills integrated with core academic subjects are the ‘design specs’ for creating an educational system that will prepare our high school and college graduates to succeed in the modern workplace and community life,” the study states.

The study is meant to represent the first step toward this community effort by establishing these current skill sets established by the participating business leaders. However, the study’s collaborators strongly suggest that businesses and educators can do more.

The study recommends:

• Business and schools partnering with other organizations to provide young workers with internships, job shadowing programs and summer jobs.
• Business investments in proven outcomes-based local and national programs for young people.
• Business employees serving as mentors and tutors for young people.
• Business leaders striving to craft innovative and creative solutions to meet evolving workplace demands.