A recent study by the McKinsey Center for Government revealed that around the globe, 75 million young people between the ages of 15-24 are unemployed, and twice as many are underemployed.
As young people struggle to find jobs in general, and jobs that match their chosen field of study in particular, about 40% of employers internationally are reporting difficulty in filling entry-level positions, citing “lack of skills” in applicants as the major reason.
Within the next seven years, there is expected to be a shortage of 85 million high and middle skilled workers in the global labour market. This is indeed a worrisome trend with serious implications for the productivity and viability of industries.
On the other hand, the historically weak link between tertiary education programme design and labour market needs is glaring and leads to the creation of “discouraged graduates,” unable to land a job in their chosen field.
Such factors are creating crises in both higher education and in industry. In the United States, the situation is exacerbated when one considers the steep increases in tuition fees, increased levels of indebtedness by both students and Universities; and perplexingly, declining quality of graduates as noted in a recent study (Economist, December 2012).
In spite of the higher cost of attaining a degree, the lower quality of students and graduates suggest that a degree may now mean less than it once did, and we see many students returning to university to pursue a second degree because their first was found to be worthless.
We have witnessed the growing gap between education and employment. Every year, over 7,000 graduates leave our tertiary education institutions, yet employers in critical sectors which drive our economy and provide essential services to citizens, complain of a shortage of appropriately skilled and qualified workers.
We must pay attention to what is happening around us, and we must take pre-emptive measures to ensure that we do not face diminishing returns to our Government’s investment in higher learning.
In my contribution to the budget debate a few months ago, I stated that while the People’s Partnership Government continues to be committed to the GATE and HELP Programmes, at an annual estimated cost of TT$700 million, we must set mechanisms in place to ensure that higher education programmes and institutions are responsive, relevant and accountable to the Government’s strategy for economic development. This strategy, and the alignment of supporting programmes, must be informed by hard facts, reliable data and meaningful research on current and future industry trends.
For decades we have been struggling to diversify our economy, strengthen and integrate the Caribbean as a cohesive trading bloc on the world stage and stimulate entrepreneurial growth, with limited success. We continue to face “brain drain” as our trained and educated citizens are wooed away from our shores. We have also recognised that we have been quite poor at keeping current with evolving labour market needs and so are unable to discern and take advantage of global trends which may positively affect our regional economies.
A large number of young people are underemployed, and engaged in work that is either rudimentary or misaligned to their studies. They have the potential to be elevated to higher paying, more knowledge-intensive, and highly skilled work. Unfortunately, many are not aware of the need for and the many opportunities available for continuous learning, retooling and retraining.
If we are to tackle these problems and chart the way forward for sustainable development, data and research must act as a compass for directing our human, financial, technical and political resources.
The need to forge a robust mechanism for trapping regional trends and converting data into profound insights has never been more obvious. Indeed, this is the rationale behind the formation of the Centre for Workforce Research and Development. It is a critical component of the deliberate strategy of the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training to facilitate a more structured system of workforce and manpower planning within the broader context of our local and regional development.
In 2008, while I was Business Development Manager at UWI, St Augustine, I conceptualized the Centre for Workforce Research and Development, in recognition of the obvious need to address labour shortages on one hand, and labour productivity on the other. A proposal was sent to the 9th EDF, and consequently, funding for this initiative, which comes to fruition today, was secured.
In May 2011, a Memorandum of Understanding between the then Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education and The UWI was executed, and thereafter the Ministry continued works toward establishing a physical home for the Centre – which is currently 80% complete.
We also searched for an appropriate partner – one with whom we could share best practices, experiences and expertise, as well as data from our respective labour markets. Some of these bodies include the Centre for Labour Market Studies at the University of Leicester, England, the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute in India and the Saskatoon Labour Market Committee in Canada. Ultimately, however, the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, based in Washington DC, was identified as an appropriate partner in this regard and we are happy today to see the cementing of a relationship between the two centres.
By this Agreement between UWI and the Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce (the CEW), we have begun the process of tapping into the synergies of bringing Government, educators, business, trade unions and the labour force together. We intend to focus on unleashing the talent of our people and collectively supporting them in their quest for self-improvement and a better quality of life. At the same time, we will ensure that our industries are appropriately staffed for maximum productivity.
While I agree that there is no simple formula for stimulating economic growth and prosperity for all, what we are seeking to do is to give people a real chance to compete and be successful in realizing their dreams, while at the same time creating a basis for informed planning and decision making well into the future.
This is an edited excerpt from the address given by Senator Fazal Karim, Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills Training at the symposium, “A New Workforce Agenda: Towards a National Strategy for Workforce Development and Economic Prosperity” at the Hyatt Regency on January 16.
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