The global economy and population are both changing, and with them, the skills needed to build a vital work force are shifting as well.
According to Richard Kazis, senior vice president at Massachusetts-based Jobs for The Future, this reality poses several difficult questions for the region and the state: Will New England reinvent itself again? And will Rhode Island be a leader?
Kazis, the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the Governor’s Workforce Board on June 21, said that in order to face those questions head on, several issues must be dealt with: “inadequate literacy and numeracy skills among large segments” of the population, “an ongoing shift in the demographic profile of our nation” and “changing economic and job structure, requiring higher levels of skill.”
“Jobs that are paying well are growing,” he said. “But those jobs require post-secondary education.”
He juxtaposed this with the fact that the United States is tied for 14th out of 22 industrial countries for student performance and engagement. And the college attainment levels in the United States are lower for 25- to 34-year olds than they are for 45- to 54-year olds, while in most countries younger generations are more frequently seeking college education.
In fact, among 45- to 54-year olds, the United States is tied with Canada for first place among 30 countries, while among 25-to 34-year olds it is in eighth place. While the numbers in the United States have not dropped substantially, the lack of growth has been enough to create the lag.
“By standing still we will see our educational attainment and our standard of living” go down, Kazis said.
This will be compounded with the fact that the United States and Rhode Island have not yet successfully increased the level of degree attainment among minorities, he said. And those are the segments of the population that are growing.
While the population of whites is expected to go down by .88 percent for 18- to 24-year olds and 6.59 percent for 25- to 44-year olds by 2020, the black population is expected to increase nationally by .42 percent for 18- to 24-year olds and 2.03 percent for 25- to 44-year olds. And the Hispanic population is expected to go up by 1.87 percent for 18- to 24-year olds and 5.49 percent for 25- to 44-year olds.
“Trading off whites, who as a group tend to have higher educational attainment, for Hispanics, which typically have lower educational attainment,” will create “a challenge that is impressive,” Kazis said.
But, he added, “Rhode Island is not shrinking from this challenge.”
“There are a number of things going on in Rhode Island that are consistent with what is working around the country with work force development and with innovative work force strategies,” he said.
