Workforce Readiness and Training

Workforce Readiness and Training: Don’t Rely on Employers to Bridge the Gap

A perfect storm is brewing, setting us up for a workforce that will be ill-prepared for the jobs of today and the future. Young people are graduating from high school, and even college, lacking basic skills required for success on the job. Companies have ever-increasing needs for basic, applied and specialized skills to compete effectively. And employers are becoming less and less willing to provide on-the-job training. These three factors are leading to a substantial gap between company needs and the preparedness of workers, with employers not necessarily willing to bridge the gap.

A recent study1 examining corporate training practices found almost half of the employers surveyed provide workforce readiness training for new hires, but with less than stellar results. These remedial training programs are designed to build skills that employers expect new employees to have when they are hired, especially as high school, two-year college and four-year college graduates. According to the study, employers consider these training programs to be