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Do you want to build a promising career and earn high salaries? Then it is imperative that you acquire the right skills, knowledge and degree. In this increasingly competitive job market, most employers now prefer candidates who not only own a college degree, but also have the necessary skills. But is our higher education system successful in preparing our youth for the growing demands of the job market? Let’s take a look….
Dealing with skills shortage
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At present, almost 73 million young individuals are searching for jobs across the globe. But the striking fact is there are millions of job vacancies which are still unfilled. Did you know that more than 5 million job positions remained vacant in the United States back in May 2015, where over 8 million youths were searching for jobs in the nation?
In the nations surveyed recently by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), more than 39 million people are current not in education or employment (NEET). The statistics are revealing a depressing glimpse of our world. Most universities and colleges worldwide are constantly creating new and qualified graduates.
What do Employers Need?
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But employers claim there is a serious shortage of talented and skilled individuals. Today, a college degree is simply not enough for getting a job, according to most employers. Then what do recruiters want from you?
Sebastien Turbot, Curator and Director of Content and Programs at World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), wrote in a recent article
“In today’s technology-driven economies, the demand for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skilled labor is escalating.”
He added “In addition, labor demands are transitioning from “savoir-faire” to “savoir-être”, with a growing focus on “soft skills” or non-cognitive skills. Survey after survey indicate that companies around the world want to hire employees with four key traits: communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking.”
Preparing for the Job Market
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Experts believe that by 2025, millennials will comprise almost 75 per cent of the workforce. However, it is believed that a prominent number of them will probably never be employed as a traditional employee. Now we are increasingly moving in to an age where most mundane tasks will be effectively performed by machines. Hence, it has become highly important that we strive to create a workforce with “creative entrepreneurs” with individuals who are empathetic, innovative and empowered to deal with various challenges.
But is our higher education able to prepare young people for the demanding job market? The Education to Employment report from McKinsey reveals that about 70 per cent of teachers, who were surveyed, think that fresh graduates are equipped for today's job market. However, around 50 per cent of employers and students tend to contradict this view.
What is the solution?
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Turbot wrote “Who is responsible for the skills mismatch? Educators? Employers? Or should we blame students for choosing the wrong subjects? In my opinion, before delving deeper into this raging blame game, we need to address the “perceptions gap”. The McKinsey report is just one of the many indicators to reflect that educators, entrepreneurs and young graduates are not on the same page.”
Then what can We Do?
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The first thing that needs to be done is to get professors and executives to work together and focus on reducing the gap the education needed and the education offered. Secondly, we need to make the students an important part of the process so that they have a clear idea about what they are getting and what the business world wants.
Turbot added “So before we set off to redesign a new curriculum or decide that corporate universities and programs are the only to resolve the job market’s real needs, educators, learners and employers have to step into each other’s worlds.”
Can higher education empower our students? Share your thoughts and views by commenting below.
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