An abundance of labor, a poverty of talent

"An abundance of labor, a poverty of talent” will be this week's topic on Workforce Trends. My special guest will be Ted Byrne, Managing Editor/Economist at Business2Business Magazines. This month’s (April 2010) B2B magazine cover story is an article titled “What Jobs Won’t Return” (written by yours truly.) In the article, I wrote that “between today and 2020, it is expected that 74 percent of all jobs created in America will be high-paying jobs for high-skilled workers. While there will be a need for 123 million of those talented people, only 50 million Americans will qualify. By contrast, low-paying, low-skill jobs will shrink to just 26 percent of the total jobs in the U.S. Worst of all, just 44 million people will be needed for those jobs, but 150 million or more candidates will be seeking those jobs.” Employers, workers, and politicians need to come to grip with this reality! Joblessness is here to stay and it has enormous implications for our communities and society. You don’t want to miss hearing Ted, the Economist and Ted, the Editor give his two “sense” about skilled workers, high unemployment, a growing skills gap…and the long-term impact on our economy. The conversation and discussion is sure to be provocative and controversial – you won’t want to miss it. And don’t forget the call-in number is 1 (646) 200-3752. (To read the article "What Jobs Won't Return," go to http://bit.ly/JobsGoneB2B. To receive a pdf of the article, go to http://bit.ly/RequestPDF.)