Horowitz: American Workers Taking Steps to Upgrade Skills

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Rob Horowitz, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

A governing tenet of our new technology-based knowledge economy is that for individuals and the nation as a whole to be successful, we all must constantly upgrade our skills and master new subject areas. As too many of us have learned through hard reality, the days in which one can build a career with one skill set at one company are by-and-large behind us.

The encouraging news is that Americans appear to be adapting to this ‘new normal.’ More than 6-in-10 American workers say that they have ‘taken steps to upgrade their skills and knowledge in the last 12 months, according to a recently releases national poll conducted by Pew Research Center. The predominant reason for seeking and getting job-related training was ‘to maintain or improve job skills."

As focus groups on the same topic revealed, the Great Recession with its accompanying major job loss and income reduction, brought home the need to sharpen and expand job skills. One mid-career professional from the Atlanta region expressed a widespread sentiment “I saw everything going on around me with co-workers, neighbors, friends and asked myself, “Who’s coming after me and my job? How long are my skills going to last?” …. I did some research that was pretty comforting, but I try to spend a little time every couple of months now reassessing my status.”

A millennial from the St Louis area in his first job expressed a similar idea: “My friends and I just assume that what we do now will be obsolete in the next decade. That’s our reality. You always have to keep learning and improving.”

Once engaged in learning new skills, workers are overwhelmingly positive about the experience. Nearly 2-out-of-3 say it expanded their professional network and nearly 1-in-2 say “their extra training helped them advance within their current company.” And more than 1-in-4 who participated in job training, say to enable them to find a new job as their same company or with a different one.

Perhaps most telling, the intrinsic rewards of developing new knowledge and expanding one’s horizons seems nearly as important a pay off to the focus group respondents as the income and career advancement dividends. People truly enjoyed “learning for learning’s sake” which means they are more likely to continue the practice. These positive results are reinforced by the broader survey finding that nearly 3-in-4 Americans identify themselves as ‘lifelong learners.”

All this good news is tempered, however, by the fact that workers with less education and income are less likely to pursue additional training. For example, “72% of employed adults with at least college degrees have engaged in some sort of job-related training in the past year, as opposed to 49% of employed adults with high school degrees or less. Unfortunately, the people who could arguably benefit the most from more training are least likely to get it."

Still, the over-all trends are very positive and that’s good news for our economic future.

Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.

Related Slideshow: Massachusetts Business Rankings

See how Massachusetts stacked up.

Prev Next

WalletHub

Massachusetts has 2015's 28th highest insurance premium penalties for high risk drivers, according to a WalletHub report.

Mass is behind Colorado and New Mexico who come in at 26 and 27 spots respectively while Mass is ahead of Tennessee and the District of Columbia who rank 29 and 30 respectively.

Massachusetts ranks 14th overall in the category of DUI conviction annual premium increase with an amount of $756.

Massachusetts ranks 20th overall in the category of speeding over 20 mph annual premium increase with a total of $261 while ranking 21 overall in the category of two accidents annual premium increase with a total of $1,364.

Prev Next

WalletHub

Massachusetts has been ranked as the 5th most eco-friendly state in the country, according to a recent study by WalletHub.

Mass ranks tenth in environmental quality and fourth in Eco-Friendly Behaviors landing them in 8th overall.

Mass is behind Minnesota and New York who are in the fourth and third spots respectively, and in front of Washington and New Hampshire who come in at the six and seven spots.

Prev Next

The Economist

Small Business Friendliness Grade: D+

The Economist grades states on an A+ to F grading scale for its small business climate. Massachusetts ranks near the bottom of the nation, joining New Mexico and New York in receiving D+ grades. 9 states scored worse than a D+ in the Economist rankings.

Overbearing bureaucracy and excessive licensing is stifling small business in America.

Prev Next

CNBC

#25 CNBC

CNBC ranks each state in cost of doing business, economy, technology and innovation.

Massachusetts' unemployment rate as of May 2014 was 5.6 percent. The state added 9,100 jobs in the month of May.

Forbes

#13 Forbes

Forbes ranks each state in business costs, economic climate, and growth prospects.

The most damning in the commentary:

Massachusetts’ business costs, including labor, energy and taxes, are the highest of the 48 contiguous states—only Hawaii is higher—at 20% above the national average.

ChiefExecutive.net

#47 ChiefExecutive.net

ChiefExecutive.net ranks each state in taxations and regulations, workforce quality, and living environment.

The most damning in the commentary:

Taxation and regulation are always the key barometers. Massachusetts and Oregon are the worst.

Prev Next

Tax Foundation

#25 Tax Foundation

Tax Foundation ranks each state in corporate tax rank, sales tax rank, and unemployment insurance tax rank.

Massachusetts ranked #49 in unemployment insurance tax.

Prev Next

Wallet Hub

#10 Wallet Hub

Wallet Hub ranks each state in ROI rank, state tax rank, and overall government services.

Massachusetts ranked #49 in worst roads and bridges, but ranked #7 in overall government services.

ALEC

#41 ALEC

ALEC ranks each state in economic performance and outlook.

Although Massachusetts ranked low in economic performance, a forward-looking forecast is based on the state’s standing in 15 important state policy variables. Some of these variables include top marginal personal income tax rate and sales tax burden.

Kauffman Foundation

#29 Kauffman Foundation

Kauffman Foundation ranks each state in entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurial activity generally is highest in Western and Southern states
and lowest in Midwestern and Northeastern states.

Prev Next

Free Enterprise

#18 Free Enterprise

Free Enterprise ranks each state in performance, exports, innovation + entrepreneurship, business climate, talent pipeline, infrastructure.

Massachusetts's reputation as a hotspot for science and technology endures in this year's rankings. The commonwealth is a center for STEM jobs and university research and development, ranking 4th and 2nd, respectively, in those two categories. It also ranks 6th as a center for high-tech establishments. Massachusetts is taking aggressive steps to bolster economic activity with high-impact university-industry R&D projects and new tools for tech-based startup companies.