So here’s an interesting statistic from a 2014 labor survey by burning-glass.com: 65 percent of new job postings for executive secretaries and executive assistants now call for a bachelor’s degree, but “only 19 percent of those currently employed in these roles have a B.A.” So four-fifths of secretaries today would not be considered for two-thirds of the job postings in their own field because they do not have a four-year degree to do the job they are already doing! The study noted that an “increasing number of job seekers face being shut out of middle-skill, middle-class occupations by employers’ rising demand for a bachelor’s degree” as a job-qualifying badge — even though it may be irrelevant, or in no way capture someone’s true capabilities, or where perhaps two quick online courses would be sufficient.
网站burning-glass.com2014年劳动力调查中有一组有趣的统计数据：有65%的新的行政秘书和行政助理的职位要求大学本科学历，但“那些目前在这些岗位上的职员中只有19%拥有本科学位”，所以有五分之四的公司秘书对于这一领域中三分之二的招聘信息而言，都是不够格的，因为他们没有四年制学位，以保证他们得到一份自己原本已经在做的工作！该研究指出，由于雇主对本科学位的需求增多，“越来越多的求职者面临被中等技能、中产阶级的职位拒之门外”，学位的要求好比是求职者身上必须拥有的“徽章”，即使它可能是和工作领域不相关的，或无法体现人的真实能力，抑或修两门速成在线课程就足够了。
This is just one of the problems contributing to unemployment and underemployment today. It was the subject of a seminar last Thursday jointly convened by New America, McKinsey, LinkedIn and Opportunity@Work, a new civic group led by Byron Auguste, who headed President Obama’s recent efforts to reform the education-to-work pathway in America. The meeting’s focus was a new McKinsey study on how we can use big data and online talent platforms to better nurture talent in the work force, find it where it already exists but may not be “badged” by a college degree and connect it both with the real demands of businesses and with colleges looking to make their curriculum more relevant to changing work force needs. As Senator Mark Warner, who delivered a smart keynote address, noted, “Almost 25 people are running for President — and it is remarkable to me that not one of them is talking about these issues.”
这仅仅是造成当下的失业和就业不足问题的其中一个原因。这是上周四一个研讨会上讨论的主题，这个研讨会由新美国(New America)、麦肯锡(McKinsey)、领英(LinkedIn)和拜伦·奥古斯特(Byron Auguste)领导的新的民间团体Opportunity@Work共同主办。奥古斯特负责奥巴马总统从教育到工作路径改革的工作。本次会议着重讨论了麦肯锡的一份研究报告，是关于我们如何能够利用大数据和网上人才平台，以更好地培养工作岗位上的人才，以实现即使这些人才没有被贴上大学学位的徽章，也能在其所在之处找到他们，把人才和需要他们的企业以及寻求使课程更加契合不断变化的劳动力需求的高校连接起来。正如参议员马克·沃纳(Mark Warner)在他于本次会议上所做的聪明的主题演讲中所指出的那样，“有近25个人在准备竞选总统，但他们当中却没有一个人在谈论这些问题，这在我看来是非常紧要的问题。”
The McKinsey study begins: “Labor markets around the world have not kept pace with rapid shifts in the global economy, and their inefficiencies take a heavy toll.” Millions of people can’t find work, “yet sectors from technology to health care cannot find people to fill open positions. Many who do work feel overqualified or underutilized.”
麦肯锡的一份研究报告开篇就说：“世界各地的劳动力市场没有跟上全球经济迅速变化的步伐，劳动力市场的低效带来了沉重的代价。”数以百万计的人找不到工作，“然而，从高科技到医疗保健在内的各行各业难以找到人才来填补空缺职位。很多在岗的人感觉自己被大材小用或未能人尽其才。”
“The skills gap is real,” explained Auguste, “but it is a symptom — not the cause — of a dysfunctional labor market, along with stagnant wages and declining job mobility.” While it’s true that more people need to master digital skills today, there are, he noted, a lot of people with skills employers are seeking — like coding skills — but who may lack the traditional credentials to be considered for the jobs. There are people who would be happy and able to master these skills but don’t have the information on what they are, where best to learn them, or access to new learning platforms that are not covered by traditional government loans or grants; companies have employees in their warehouses, call centers and retail floors with the motivation and aptitude to learn the skills for new jobs, but too few employers identify them or offer them online training opportunities; and there are rural and urban areas where tapping into the potential of less-credentialed workers could bring I.T. jobs back to U.S. shores.
奥古斯特解释说，“技能差距是真实存在的，但它是以下情况的表象而不是原因，即存在一个失调的劳动力市场，工资停滞和就业流动性下降。”尽管当下的确有更多人需要掌握数字技能，但是他指出，也有很多人拥有雇主所需要的本领，好比编程技能，但却可能因缺乏传统的学位使自己无法成为应征者；还有的人乐意并且能够掌握这些技能，但却不了解这些技能是什么，不知道去哪里才能获取这些技能，或者无法接触到在传统的政府贷款或资助范畴之外的新型学习平台；各家公司的仓库里，呼叫中心和零售部门都有员工有着为获取新工作而学习新技能的动机和能力，但却没有几位雇主能发现他们，或为他们提供在线培训机会；在美国多个农村和城市地区，如果能调动缺乏文凭的工人的潜能，就有机会把IT就业岗位带回到美国本土。
Check out linkedin.com/edu. LinkedIn has a giant database of millions of workers, which it analyzed to see which schools are launching the most graduates into the top firms in a variety of fields. They’re not always what you’d expect. Accounting? Villanova and Notre Dame. Media? N.Y.U. and Hofstra. Software developers? Carnegie Mellon, Caltech and Cornell. Whether you want to be a plumber or surgeon, it is useful to know which schools’ alumni keep rising at the leading firms.
请浏览网址linkedin.com/edu，LinkedIn有一个庞大的数据库，里面有数百万计人才的信息。它通过分析数据，可以看到哪些学校正在向各个领域的顶尖公司输送最多的毕业生。这些学校并不总是你所预想的那些。会计行业？维拉诺瓦大学(Villanova)和圣母大学(Notre Dame)。传媒行业？纽约大学(N.Y.U.)和霍夫斯特拉大学(Hofstra)。软件开发人员？卡耐基·梅隆大学(Carnegie Mellon)，加州理工学院(Caltech)和康奈尔(Cornell)。无论你想成为一名水管工或外科医生，知道哪些学校的校友群能一直在业界顶尖的公司里平步青云是很有用的。
Technology is redefining work and commerce, and if we’re smart it can also redefine education for employment and advancement so everyone can monetize, or improve, any skill and connect with any employer in need of it. “Up to 540 million people could benefit from online talent platforms by 2025,” McKinsey said. It is not that hard. We need to be making much better use of the federal government’s labor market data and that of websites like Monster.com, HireArt.com and LinkedIn, and even consider creating skill equivalents of the Obamacare health exchanges. Online talent platforms — that can link everyone’s C.V. with every job opening, with the skills needed for that job, with the online and campus-based schools offering those skills with data showing which schools do it best — create more employment, more relevant skills and the right education for them.
技术正在重新定义工作和商业，如果我们足够聪明，也可以重新定义与就业和职业发展有关的教育，让拥有任何技能的每个人都能赚钱，或提升自己，并与任何雇主需要这一技能的雇主连接。麦肯锡表示，“到2025年前，高达5.4亿人受益于网上人才平台。”这不难实现。我们需要更好地利用联邦政府的劳动力市场数据和类似Monster.com，HireArt.com和LinkedIn这样的网站，甚至考虑建立类似奥巴马医改计划中的医保交易平台的人才交流平台。这一在线人才平台可以连接每个人的简历与每一个空缺职位，连接某个职位所需的技能和提供这些技能培训的在线和实体学校，并且提供数据显示哪个学校做得最好——带来了更多的就业，更多的相关技能，并提供了与之相关的正确教育方式。
Congress needs to create the legal, privacy and financial incentives to nurture this new social contract, argued Senator Warner: “The biggest challenge for this labor force, and for federal policy makers, is the change in the traditional employer-employee relationship.” If we used all our technology resources, said Aneesh Chopra, former chief technology officer of the United States, we could actually give people “personalized recommendations for every step of your life — at every step of your life.” Adds Auguste: “We can use technology to do more than automate tasks. We can use it to accelerate learning, optimize talent, and guide people into better jobs and careers.”
国会需要通过立法、隐私和财政激励措施培育这一新的社会契约。参议员华纳指出，“对于劳动力大军以及联邦政策制定者来说，最大的挑战在于传统的雇主-雇员关系的变化。”正如美国前首席技术官阿尼什·乔普拉(Aneesh Chopra)所说的，如果我们利用我们所有的技术资源，我们可以为“人们生活的每一步提供个性化的建议，在你生活中的每一个节点”。奥古斯特补充说，“技术不仅仅可被利用做自动化工作。我们还可以用它来加速学习，优化人才，引导人们获得更好的工作和事业。”
The robots will only take all the jobs if we let them — so let’s use technology to keep the middle skilled in the middle class.
机器人会得到所有的工作，如果我们允许其发生的话。所以，让我们用技术来保证那些拥有中等技能的人才得以继续成为中产阶层的一员吧。
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