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I think it's clear why. It used to be that most jobs could be performed without any particular major. Instead, a college degree was taken as a generic business

I think it's clear why. It used to be that most jobs could be performed without any particular major. Instead, a college degree was taken as a generic business indicator that you know how to work. People with degrees in hard sciences could always take entry-level computer jobs with no special training. Technical specialization has resulted in a situation where businesses cannot find enough high technology workers and the students exiting colleges have less useful liberal arts degrees in this economy like journalism. In the past, this was solved by on-the-job training. Today, large businesses often solve this worker shortage by outsourcing the job to substandard contractors in countries with far lower pay bands. Businesses would rather pay to train a cheap, blank slate worker than pay the premium to train an American with a four-year college degree. This can be profoundly short-sighted, but the most recent management school generation is too often wedded to bean counting and manipulating vanity metrics. They often fail to grasp subjective and hidden business costs. HP's Carly Fiorina is a classic example. She wanted to cut R&D to zero because she believed it was purely a cost center and produced no profit. If anything cannot be counted, it does not count.

draz 13y ago
You bring up an interesting point that reminded me of an article I read a week ago about how Germany does the exact opposite (with overall better financial implications): http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21579145-ingredients-german-economic-success-are-more-complex-they-seem-dissecting http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21579145-ingred... "Germany managed to avoid a surge of lay-offs after the financial crisis and has done far better than others at getting the young and the hard-to-employ into work. How did it manage that? Most explanations heap praise on the Mittelstand model and the system of vocational training. Firms such as Storopack or Rösch take on apprentices, mixing practical training with classroom tuition." Of course, this is NOT the only reason for their current financial prowess in Europe, but a contributing factor
- afriesh123 13y ago
  it's also interesting to me that a former economist in the obama administration is writing an article about college grads driving taxis, right around the time the powers that be are trying to implement immigration reform to make it easier to import foreign workers to fill various roles. he seems to be dancing around some obvious conclusions that the job market is (gasp) driven by supply and demand for labor, but doesn't quite reach a conclusion.

draz 13y ago

You bring up an interesting point that reminded me of an article I read a week ago about how Germany does the exact opposite (with overall better financial implications): http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21579145-ingredients-german-economic-success-are-more-complex-they-seem-dissecting http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21579145-ingred... "Germany managed to avoid a surge of lay-offs after the financial crisis and has done far better than others at getting the young and the hard-to-employ into work. How did it manage that? Most explanations heap praise on the Mittelstand model and the system of vocational training. Firms such as Storopack or Rösch take on apprentices, mixing practical training with classroom tuition." Of course, this is NOT the only reason for their current financial prowess in Europe, but a contributing factor

afriesh123 13y ago
it's also interesting to me that a former economist in the obama administration is writing an article about college grads driving taxis, right around the time the powers that be are trying to implement immigration reform to make it easier to import foreign workers to fill various roles. he seems to be dancing around some obvious conclusions that the job market is (gasp) driven by supply and demand for labor, but doesn't quite reach a conclusion.