Can retraining offset rush of jobs offshore?
As more workers get displaced, everyone from Bush to colleges is pushing programs to hone new skills.
A nation, short on job growth, is putting more emphasis on retraining its workers for the jobs that are available.
The cultivation of new marketable skills is one of President Bush's themes as he informally stumps around the country. Indeed, voters overwhelmingly indicate in polls that they like the retraining concept - something that will not be lost on whoever is the Democratic candidate.
At the same time, Congress is in the process of reauthorizing - and reforming - the myriad federal programs for retraining. And the nation's community colleges - increasingly the local workhorses in a national effort - are forming partnerships with businesses, trying to match students' skills to the needs of the shop floor.
The emphasis on training is a sign of the economic times. Companies merge and announce wholesale layoffs. Entire factories are moved to different countries. Business plans go awry and belts get tightened.
Some 8 million people are unemployed, with nearly 2 million out of work for six months or more.
"Increasingly, people are not working for a single industry or in the same occupation their entire lives," says Jason Walsh of the Workforce Alliance, a coalition of groups concerned about training issues. "There is a lot of churning, lifelong learning, people losing jobs, getting new ones, and learning new skills."
In the past, retraining programs were not necessarily linked to the workplace. "Much of the training that occurred was more focused on adult basic education," says Mr. Walsh. "What I think we know without a doubt is that the best training is linked closely with employers."
That's why in a recent radio address, Mr. Bush chose to highlight Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio. Owens, along with seven other colleges in Ohio and Illinois, has created Integrated Systems Technology programs that train students for skilled manufacturing jobs. The federal government, through the Department of Labor's One-Stop Centers, typically pays for tuition and books for the three- to five-month program.
"The response has been phenomenal," says Jim Gilmore, skilled trades coordinator at Owens. The latest count shows 60 students in his program, with many more showing interest.
The program's largest area of concentration is manufacturing. While unskilled labor is tending to move overseas to cut costs, skilled workers are still needed for automated production, and Ohio is particularly in need of well-trained workers in auto and other industries.
"The nice part about the WIA [Workforce Investment Act] money is that it allows the representative area, the counties or the local area, to provide input as to what they're looking for," Mr. Gilmore says. "So where manufacturing might be the big thing where I'm at, in Arizona healthcare might be the big up-and- coming thing."
Page: 1 | 2 
