The Skills Gap

According to a recent article there exists a gap between the skills required by employers and what they are getting from recent graduates, but there is another gap.  There are differences between the perception of employers, students and educators.  This is a global issue and where the gap is the largest employers believe only 43% are qualified while educators think the number should be 83% (Mehta, 2012).  I agree with the educators.

Speaking from experience, many training pipelines only show that you are trainable.  The real knowledge and know how come on the job.  Doing the job itself is a learning experience.  Does not the resourced based view of the firm rely on organizational resources such as structure (Barney, 2001)?  How could a “graduate” obtain such expertise as part of the educational process?  The article mentions employers teaming with schools, but if these skills are unique then it would be a waste of time for at least some of the students.  While the employer would create a pool of talent from which to select, students not chosen are no more qualified.

Companies need to look at new “resources” (graduates) more like a raw material to be shaped and molded by the processes of the company instead of an “off the shelf” product.

 

Barney, J. (2001). Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Managment , 99-120.

Mehta, S. N. (2012, 12 05). The "skills gap": As bad as (almost) everyone thinks. Retrieved 12 05, 2012, from CNN Money: http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/05/the-skills-gap-as-bad-as-almost-everyone-thinks/?iid=obnetwork