Worker solution lies in education

We’ve reached full employment, but whether that’s good news is debatable.

Both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported last week that unemployment has bottomed out at 4.3 percent nationwide, which is about as low as it can go. It has not been that low in 16 years.

Both newspapers, however, balance this apparent cheer with some sobering realities.

Workforce participation is low. About 63 percent of the population participates in the workforce, three percentage points below the 66-percent level recorded before the 2008 recession.

Also disturbing is the low rate of growth in worker pay. Year-over-year wage growth was only 2.4 percent in the May 2017 figures, which the Times noted is just above the rate of inflation. In 2007, before the recession, it was about 4.4 percent per year, the Journal reported.

On the other hand, despite a desperate cry from many employers for more skilled workers, the greatest growth has been in low-pay jobs, like work in restaurants and retail stores.

So much so, according to the Journal, that the low-paid jobs are dragging down the effect of overall wage gains in other areas.

Employers of all kinds say they can’t find talented workers, however.

Andrew Daomski, managing director of Aspen Advisors, which helps companies in hiring, told the Journal that when employers say they can’t find workers, “It’s code for ‘I can find talent, I just don’t want to pay them as much as they cost.’”

For workers who do have skills, pay and hours are rising, the Journal reports.

Foreign competition in a global marketplace, and companies not willing to compromise profit margins, are also key factors in the small gains in pay, the Journal reports.

The Times adds that declining numbers of working-age adults who are either working or looking for work have also contributed to slow growth in wages.

I can’t help thinking that declining paychecks have high potential to cause economic decline in the U.S. even with full employment. It seems that dumbing down jobs and reducing pay may already be eroding the very markets that private employers are trying to build.

I’m at a loss for how to prevent this decline, though.

Globalization is unstoppable and has been since the internet enabled instant global communication.

Manufacturing, even if more returns to the U.S., is not likely to bring the well-paid jobs it used to provide. Personnel is always the first target in reducing costs. Automation will continue to take a toll on even the most skilled manufacturing jobs, and the jobs that remain are likely to be only low-paid low-skill jobs that only humans can do, but almost any human can with little or no training.

I think, however, the beginning of a solution lies in our education system.

First, I think the nation would benefit from expanding skill and trade programs instead of trying to send every student to college. We’re coming short on skilled workers.

Second, in academics, schools should continue to encourage preparation for science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers, even at the expense of humanities and liberal arts fields, which are overloaded with applicants for decreasing opportunities.

Steve Hansen writes about our life and times from his perspective of a retired Tucumcari journalist. Contact him at: [email protected]