Skills Gap A Growing Problem Worldwide, Columnist Writes.

In a column for the Contra Costa Times (4/16), Tapan Munroe writes that there is “a growing gap between skills and education of workers and the needs of employers.” However, “this is not just an American problem, but a problem of the industrial world including China and India.” Munroe notes Manpower Inc’s 2009 worldwide talent survey, which “concluded that nearly a one-third of the employers were experiencing difficulty in filling the vacant jobs.” According to one expert the talent shortage can be attributed to “three major socioeconomic forces,” which are “changes in technology, changes in age demographics, and globalization.” Munroe explains how each socioeconomic force impacts the skills gap, and concludes, “America must rethink its talent-creation system so that it is consistent with the realities of the fast moving 21st century cyber-age economy.”