It is True, in many cases, that we have a better educated workforce
than we have ever had before. Unfortunately due to student loans,
most of those highly educated grads are struggling under heavy loads
of debt that they will have a tough time paying back on minimum
wage jobs.
Many jobs have gone they way of the dodo bird due to new
technology and it looks like that trend is going to continue.
Technology is currently changing every 18 months or so. The hard
part for students is going to be making good decisions on what to
study that will have a bright and long lasting future. Math and Science
and Engineering majors will have a better time acquiring and keeping
a job in their chosen field. A liberal arts degree or an MBA is less
likely to allow you to get and keep a job in your field. MBA's, even
though it is a needed field, is so saturated, that if your a new grad,
your competing with thousands of others who have also gone through
that over utilized program. You would be better off getting a degree as
an electrician in a tech school than to waste your time, effort and
money on an MBA right now.
Our high schools and colleges need to do a better job of steering kids
towards degrees, in both the college and tech school routes, that will
actually equate to an actual future job. It isn't going to do you much
good to become a VCR repairman when that technology is pretty
much dead, even though it was a relatively new technology when I
was coming out of high school back in the 1980's.
One of my (now deceased) uncles used to repair TV sets that had the
old vacuum tubes in them. Today there is no need to know how to do
that with the advent of LCD, Plasma, and 3D technology TV's on the
market. It is a good thing that he is long since passed and isn't looking
for a job with his extremely outdated skill set. This is the other danger
students need to be aware of. New technology keeps coming at a
faster and faster pace. Just in my lifetime alone we have gone from
record players and 8 track players to cassette tapes, to CD's and to
MP3 players, (along with music videos on Beta, VHS, DVD'S AND
BLUE RAY DISCS ALSO ADDED INTO THE MIX) and that is just
in the music industry.
Being flexible in your career choice is also a necessity due to new
technologies. This means going back to school frequently to update
your skills and learn new skills.
Unfortunately, until we fix our higher
education system so that higher learning is free or near free like it was
in CA in the 1960's and early 1970's, this will also mean people will
have to be prepared to either take on more student debt or to save up
to pay for those classes as you go.
We could as a nation choose to make higher education (including tech schools) free by eliminating much of the waste in the pentagon. Between that and using the money already set aside for loans and grants, could make continuing education doable for everyone who has an aptitude to learn.
I'm not advocating that everyone get a college degree, however I am advocating that everyone who wants to learn and get a degree or certificate to have the chance to do so.
As a sidebar I also think collective bargaining for better wages, benefits and retirement is a must have in many industries. Americans have been losing ground on the wage and benefits front for far too many years now.
The only way to improve wages and work environments is through
collective bargaining and strikes. Right now, since employers are not
willing to give their employees a living wage, this is the only way to
fight for such things even though there are some flaws in collective
bargaining it is the best route to go to force employers to pay living
wages, maintain safe work environments, and to have them provide a
group insurance plan for employees regardless of who picks up the
tab (If we get universal healthcare like almost every other nation, this
wouldn't be necessary).
As a sidebar I also think collective bargaining for better wages, benefits and retirement is a must have in many industries. Americans have been losing ground on the wage and benefits front for far too many years now.
The only way to improve wages and work environments is through
collective bargaining and strikes. Right now, since employers are not
willing to give their employees a living wage, this is the only way to
fight for such things even though there are some flaws in collective
bargaining it is the best route to go to force employers to pay living
wages, maintain safe work environments, and to have them provide a
group insurance plan for employees regardless of who picks up the
tab (If we get universal healthcare like almost every other nation, this
wouldn't be necessary).