Workforce Skills and the Global Market:Understanding Emerging Employer Skills Needs in Our Rapidly-Changing, Innovation-Driven Economy

Kathy Krepcio, Executive DirectorJohn J. Heldrich Center for Workforce DevelopmentJune 23, 2008 ~ Presentation at the Interagency Committee on Disability Research

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Heldrich Center “Ready for the Job” Research• Interviews and focus groups with over 70 employers, economic

forecasters and other stakeholders• Fundamental Assumptions

– A skilled workforce is essential to national, state and local economic growth

– In order to fully participate in today’s economy and labor market, workers must possess the skills employers need.

– Today, employers state that a significant challenge to their ability to grow, compete and prosper is the shortfall of skilled workers or a ‘skills gap’

– Understanding the skills employers need – and developing workers with those skills - plays an ever more critical role for the US economy

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Research Findings

• US workplaces are undergoing rapid and continuous changes

• Employers today are competing in an increasingly global, innovation-driven economy and must adapt to major workplace trends

• Six (6) emerging workplace trends have important implications for the skills workers need to compete in today’s marketplace.

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Broad Workplace Trend Implications for Workers

TREND #1.

The Increasing Competitive

Advantage of Firms that Harness

Knowledge and Innovation Effectively

Job responsibilities at all levels are changing to improve the flow of knowledge throughout

organizations

Major firms are creating new types of knowledge

jobs including: chief knowledge officers

and innovation managers

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The pressure to harness knowledge and innovations has increased the importance of these types of skills:

• Interdisciplinary knowledge• Information management and communication• Adaptability

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Broad Workplace Trend Implications for Workers

TREND #2.

Decentralization of business

operations and management

Transfer of more responsibility to front line

workers/high performance work

systems

Development of global project networksMore non-traditional worker-employer relationships

Development of global project networks

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The decentralization of business operations has increased the need for workers with these skills:

• Technology skills• Business skills• Information management and

communication/relationship building • Adaptability

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Broad Workplace Trend Implications for Workers

TREND #3.

The continued

and expanded

reliance on technology

in the workplace

Creating shifts in job responsibilities and

skills needed to perform jobs

Increase in the level of skills and education

necessary to succeed on the job

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The expanded reliance on technology has increased the need for workers who possess these key skills:• Technology skills, especially Math, Science

and Engineering • Adaptability

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Broad Workplace Trend Implications for Workers

TREND #4.

Increasing diversity in

the workplace

More complexity involved in handling

interpersonal relationships and

interactions

Firms are creating new positions

to address diversity issues such as

chief diversity officer

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Greater workplace diversity has increased the need for workers who possess these key skills:

• Communication/Relationship Building• Adaptability

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Broad Workplace Trend Implications for Workers

TREND #5.

An expanded focus on privacy, security

and ethics

Job responsibilities at all levels are changing to improve the prevention of, and response to, a

variety of threats

Firms are creating new positions to address security and ethics

issues including ethics officers and security

managers

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The expanded reliance on technology has increased the need for workers who possess these key skills:

• Technology skills, especially Math, Science and Engineering

• Adaptability

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Broad Workplace Trend Implications for Workers

TREND #6.

Business process

changes in response to

shifts in regulatory

environments and changing

patterns of regulation

Long and short term increases in the

knowledge and skill requirements for jobs at

all levels

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Changing regulatory environments has increased the need for workers who possess these key skills:

• Information management and communications/relationship building

• Business Skills• Adaptability

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Conclusion ~ High Priority Emerging Skills in Today’s Global Environment

• Adaptability Skills• Information Management and

Communication/Relationship Building Skills• Interdisciplinary Skills• Business Skills• Science, Math, Engineering and

Technology (STEM) skills

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Recommendations for Future Research and Knowledge Transfer• Evaluation of existing workforce prep programs – to

understand what works and what does not work for PwD – especially emerging sector strategies and longer term tracking of labor market attachment using UI wage data

• Evaluation designs should be ‘informative’ – to provide administrators, policy makers and the public with real time information without compromising research integrity and rigor and that results in significantly improved program practice, policy and operations

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Recommendations for Future Research and Knowledge Transfer

• Ongoing research on ever changing employer skill needs

• Need routine, timely and more effective mechanism to quickly translate that information to educators, parents, counselors and job seekers so supply side programs can reflect real time demands