For the very first time in history, the number of workers over age 55 will surpass the number of workers ages 25 to 34. Since 1990, the number of older workers has been increasing steadily, while the number of younger workers in that specific age cohort has been steadily declining. It’s just a matter of … Continue reading
Remember the bumper sticker from the ‘80s, “Please God, let there be another oil boom. I promise not to piss it all away the next time.” That, of course, was two booms ago. Now we are on the cusp, the very beginning of the third. We seem to be getting smarter at this, but not … Continue reading
About one in three young Arab women between the ages of 23 and 29 participate in their country’s labor force versus about eight in 10 young Arab men. This gender gap is generally consistent across the 22 Arab countries and territories Gallup surveyed in 2011, but young women’s labor force participation is slightly higher in … Continue reading
High and lasting unemployment is the fate of several OECD countries. But at the same time, employers widely report difficulty finding qualified and skilled workers. That used to be called “structural unemployment”. More and more analysts call it the Skills Gap. It has been observed for a long time in countries, or part of them, … Continue reading
Jenny Shaw, Amelia Routand and Jan Wise tell us that sharing with industry on the curriculum, including assessment, “which is often seen as the preserve of academics”, is essential to meet the challenges of workforce development. Industry involvement for the “genuine professional development of students” sets “a gradual, piecemeal evolution in the design and delivery … Continue reading
After leading the nation in unemployment for four years, Michigan has finally dropped out of the Top 10. State unemployment slid to 9.3% in December, only a touch higher than the national rate, and a sharp decline from the 14.1% rate that Michigan hit in the fall of 2009. And last year was the first … Continue reading
An ACT (American College Testing up to 1996) report introduces the need and associated benefits for establishing a national workforce credentialing system, as we know of no other set of activities more important than getting a critical mass of state, national, and public and private workforce leaders to co-construct this foundational framework to address … Continue reading