Report: Young Workforce Is 'Ill-Prepared'
As the baby boom generation slowly exits the U.S. workplace, a new report says the incoming generation is sorely lacking in much needed workplace skills – both basic academic and more advanced "applied" skills.
The report is based on a detailed survey of 431 human resource officials that was conducted in April and May 2006 by the Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Human Resource Management. Its objective was to examine employers' views on the readiness of new entrants to the U.S. workforce – recently hired graduates from high schools, two-year colleges or technical schools, and four-year colleges.
"The future workforce is here, and it is ill-prepared," concludes the report.
The findings reflect employers' growing frustrations over the preparedness of new entrants to the workforce. Employers expect young people to arrive with a core set of basic knowledge and the ability to apply their skills in the workplace, but the reality is not matching the expectation.
Business leaders report that while the three "R's" are still fundamental to every employee's ability to do the job, applied skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, and communication are essential for success at work. In fact, at all educational levels, these applied skills trump basic knowledge skills such as reading and mathematics in importance in the view of employers. In order to succeed in the workplace of the 21st century, high school and college graduates need to master basic academic skills as well as a complement of applied skills. The survey also found though that too many new entrants to the workforce are not adequately prepared in these important skills.
Nearly three-quarters of survey participants (70 percent) cite deficiencies among incoming high school graduates in "applied" skills, such as professionalism and work ethic, defined as "demonstrating personal accountability, effective work habits, e |
