Monday, July 20, 2015

Labor Market Demand Predictions

Matching training to demand has long troubled me, especially as with each generation, the (supposed) amount of training required for "good" jobs increases, thereby increasing the lead time and ballooning uncertainty. I just heard that the best predictions by the best economists in 2000 was that IT jobs would grow from 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 by 2010. As of 2013, the number of IT jobs? 3,500,000.

How to fix this problem? If businesses would TRAIN THEIR OWN WORKERS, the match between supply and demand would be more direct. We also would have a lot less unpaid student loan debt.

The most economically disadvantaged demographic groups are the ones most victimized by the current system, since they have to rely on market demand signals very far removed (and intercepted by parties with incentives to manipulate for short-term monetary gain) from employers. The people with relatives in the "good jobs" fields get insider information. This is anathema to a society which purportedly is all for economic mobility.

No comments: