Is there really a skills shortage? 

The establishment answer to un- and underemployment is that the workforce is what needs to be “fixed” and not the job market. That is, all we need to do is get everyone trained in the skills needed for the brave new knowledge economy and everyone will be adequately employed. While broadening access to education and job training may be good things in a general sense, they will not solve the problem of inadequate jobs. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that, out of the top 15 occupations projected to grow during the period 2014 to 2024, eight of these require no formal educational credentials, another three require only a high school diploma or some (non-degree) secondary education, and the majority of them pay near or less than the federal poverty level for a family of four. Indeed, the fact that over-education exists—and lots of people with credentials, skills and experience can find themselves suddenly out of work—refutes the notion that more training is the only answer.

Gordon Lafer, a professor at the University of Oregon Labor education and Research Center, reviewed every significant study of the federal Job Training Partnership Act. The JTPA was the product of the Reagan administration, and it replaced public employment programs with outsourced (i.e., privatized) training providers. Lafer found that there was a good deal of corruption in the program, but even those programs run by reputable providers failed to create jobs or reduce poverty and inequality. Although program participants were sometimes able to obtain a more favorable position in the job queue, they found jobs only by “bumping” job-seekers who did not participate. Even those who got jobs were often not able to lift themselves out of poverty or secure financial stability. In spite of lackluster results, job training rhetoric continues to be promoted and receive federal funding. Lafer concludes that this is due more to political expediency than actual results, since it permits “lawmakers of both parties to survive the politics of recession by placating the poor without alienating the mighty.”