skills gap

We’re continuing our series “A Matter of Degrees” with a look at what it means to be “career ready.”  There’s a lot of angst about whether college graduates have the skills they need for today’s workforce, especially science, math, and writing. Some are saying it’s time to rethink which courses students really need, which they don’t, and whether employer expectations are reasonable.

GUESTS: 

With so many Americans out of work and so many companies claiming they can’t fill vacant positions, many have blamed a so-called 'skills gap'. But business professor Peter Cappelli says this is just blaming the unemployed victim, and in fact, many companies are responsible for this bind. He says they're relying on automated, unreliable applicant tracking systems and refusing to train perfectly acceptable candidates.  We'll look at this debate.

Guests

The New Hampshire Senate is considering a bill aimed at reducing the so-called  "skills gap". The bill would offer tax credits to businesses that partnered with the community college system to create workforce training programs.