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As much as something like this is appreciated, the history of job retraining programs are filled with over promises, under-commitments, and disaster, stretching
by Top19 9y ago
As much as something like this is appreciated, the history of job retraining programs are filled with over promises, under-commitments, and disaster, stretching back to the 1970’s.
There is no need to train more CS people. There is a need
for recovering the “grand bargain” between employers and employees that began in the 1940’s and was slowly unwound beginning in the mid 1970’s.
The reason that business schools exist on university campuses in the first place is because they were supposed to train business leaders to aspire to the same ideals as a university: knowledge, development of character, the search for truth to create a better word, etc.
If people knew how much harder they work today for fractions of a chance at a reward that is now 3x expensive, gestures like this would be seen for what they are, a band-aid in place of a tourniquet.
BTW if you’re upper-middle class, know life is now pretty good, but your economic base is being slowly eroded as well and there will be a time when your economic fall will come.
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EDIT: Keep in mind, this is the same company whose head of HR (Laszlo Bock) literally says he does not believe training helps at all develop people. This sounds like I am taking him out of context but I kid you not. I wish I was at home so I could find the physical page numbers, but he says it in his book “Work Rules!” from a couple of years ago. It’s at the beginning of the chapter where he talks about the New York Yankees.
- rgbrenner 9y agoKeep in mind, this is the same company whose head of HR (Laszlo Bock) literally says he does not believe training helps at all develop people. Laszlo Bock stepped down in July of last year. Eileen Naughton is the head of HR: http://fortune.com/2016/07/27/google-eileen-naughton/ http://fortune.com/2016/07/27/google-eileen-naughton/ https://qz.com/744740/googles-hugely-influential-head-of-human-resources-is-stepping-down/ https://qz.com/744740/googles-hugely-influential-head-of-hum... He works here now: http://www.humu.com/ http://www.humu.com/
- aswanson 9y agoThat "grand bargain" is over, and never returning. The economy is global, cutthroat and changes on a dime. Every man/woman is in a mercenary situation today, whether they're aware of this fact or not.
- TheAdamAndChe 9y agoIf this was the case, then why wouldn't Google just tap this global labor reserve instead of training people? Why is the federal reserve expecting inflation to rise as unemployment continues to be low?
- aswanson 9y ago"If the sky is so clear and the sun is shining, how could there possibly be a hurricane approaching...?"
- dv_dt 9y agoThose of us who depend upon exchanging our labor to survive are in a mercenary situation (some in better situations than others). But I think it's a stretch to equate it to a physical source of scarcity, but maybe I'm taking your analogy too far...
- huac 9y ago> business schools exist on university campuses in the first place is because they were supposed to train business leaders to aspire to the same ideals as a university Harvard Business School was founded to promote Taylorism and fight back against unions and organized labor.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- whack 9y agoIs the following what you're referring to? If so, he's specifically referring to training programs for existing googlers. Not educational training for full-time students, and someone looking to make a career switch. The latter clearly has a much bigger impact than the former. Regarding your larger point, I agree that we need more support for the lower middle class, but that's no reason to abandon training programs that provide better job opportunities to those who need it. On the margin, training a thousand janitors into productive web developers, would be a net positive for the economy and society as a whole. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-have-just-finished-reading-work-rules-laszlo-bock-george-clark https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-have-just-finished-reading-... "Did you know that within 1 hour of training an employee, they have forgotten 50% of what they were taught. Within 24 hours they have forgotten 70%, and within a week they have forgotten 90%. There is mostly because people truly learn from constant repetitive actions, yet companies cannot afford to have people learning 5 days a week instead of working 5 days a week - which makes 90% of training and development programmes a waste of money. Money which Google invest in recruiting instead. Laszlo Bock says that because we learn on the job, the very best people not only have learnt more than you can teach them already, but they seek learning themselves in everything they do and naturally grow without you needing to spend a fortune on training."