Problems with workplace has been issued and discussed throughout the past generations. In the past, people seemed to worry more about the how safe and clean their workplace was. However, the continuous problem with workplace seems to be how to get hired and stayed hired. How can you get the job? How long can you continue this job? This problem seems to arise due to multiple reasons including the lack of college education and experience, high unemployment rate, and the lack of workplace benefits.
College education is deemed to be necessary for employment. However, recent studies have shown that college graduates lack preparation for jobs. According to Times, more than 60 percent of the job applicants lacked “communication and interpersonal skills.” Also, according to a survey, more than 80 percent of the employers wanted to hire college graduates that completed a formal internship. In contrast, only about 8 percent of the students completed such internship. With this lack of experience and education, many college graduates are not being hired.
Even though many college graduates are not being employed, President Obama is trying to employ workers without a college degree to work in the technology jobs. According to USA Today, there are 500,000 jobs available in the tech-related fields but they are not being filled because the job requires a college degree. Therefore, the president is trying to allow people without a college degree to work in this area. This news can become another issue, because if people with college degree are not being employed but people without college degree is being hired, college is going to seem unnecessary. Conclusively, the necessity of college degree is being questioned, while the necessity of experience is being emphasized.
Furthermore, another problem with work is the unemployment rate. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current unemployment rate is around 5.5%. Unemployment is not only an issue for the college graduates, as stated before, but also for the disabled, minorities, and people who were formerly incarcerated. There never seems to enough jobs for everyone and many people are struggling to find a job. Also, since there are people who are trying to keep their jobs, there is a lack or replacement or addition of employees.
Lastly, there is a problem with lack of benefits in workplaces. According to the U.S. News, in 2012, only 46% of the employees participated in workplace retirement plan. This data illustrates that more than half of the employees lack retirement plans. The problem with this lack of benefit is that there is no backup for people who are ready to retire. Since they do not have this plan, they will be more unwilling to retire, leading to lack of space for new workers to join the work force. Then, this problem will also turn into the issue of unemployment.
Through the problems discussed in the workplaces, it is evident that a change is necessary in the work force. The lack of benefits should be addressed to help those who want to retire and there should be enforcement of experiences for people who want to be employed.
Resources
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/09/obama-techhire-technology-jobs-linkedin/24641077/
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2013/08/30/half-of-workers-lack-retirement-benefits
As a society, we have all been taught to go to college and get a degree where we would then be able to find a good job that would help us get through life. With the Obama administration taking over, however, more and more college grads appear to be unable to land jobs that would’ve previously been theirs. This is once again, a product of our poor education system structure. By encouraging the employment of men and women without degrees, we are putting those who have invested time and money in the college system at a disadvantage. College graduation no longer ensures employment. This can’t be entirely pinned on employers though. By them hiring men and women without degrees, it certainly means less money they have to spend on wages. Men and women without degrees are simply cheaper for a company. As people grow older and seek retirement, many men and women simply can’t retire because employers are unable to provide lifelong benefits that would ensure a financially secure retirement. This is a problem that is prevalent. With these men and women keeping their jobs longer, this leaves the younger generation with fewer employment opportunities. I don’t view these all as isolated problems but rather predicaments that are all related and must be approached holistically.
The lack of experience that comes with an undergraduate college education in our generation seems to be a recurring problem. As I have read in many posts, and also wrote about in my own, it seems as though industries are looking for candidates with, not only a degree, but a working application of this knowledge. This is why I was shocked by your statistic that only 8% of college students had actually completed an experiential internship during their college years. I agree that this is an issue that needs to be resolved as the workplace continues to evolve. If universities are unable to meet the changing outlooks of the workplace, it creates a generation of college graduates who are unprepared for the field they expected to enter upon graduation. I do not believe, however, that this means a college degree is becoming unnecessary. I think quite the opposite, actually. In my opinion, the fact that companies are seeking out these highly experienced and educated individuals, pushes the limits of what is expected of the average worker. It makes even further education, such as graduate school or internships and apprenticeships, almost necessary to guarantee a place in the workforce.