Shortage of Skilled Labor in the United States Workforce
[Student Name]
School of Technology, Eastern Illinois University
TEC – 5143: Research in Technology
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Shortage of Skilled Labor in the United States Workforce
America’s infrastructure and growth require a workforce that demands a certain set of skills in order to maintain and develop its health. There is a need for such workers but the need is not being met due to a shortage of skilled workers and training for multiple reasons.
Purpose of the Study
This study is to determine the reasons for the shortage of skilled workers in the current workforce. This study will identify the causes for such reasons and categorize them so they can be better understood. This research will show what can be done to correctly identified causes and provide possible solutions in order to minimize its impact on the American workforce.
Significance of the Study
When the possible solutions have been identified from the factors in the lack of unskilled workers in the workforce, we can effectively change policies and procedures that would promote growth in the American economy. It would be significant to learn the cycle of skill demand and worker training in order to provide the workforce with the proper amount of skilled workers for the current workload. When there is not a shortage or surplus, a balance can be maintained for the positive growth of America’s infrastructure, economy and technology.
Limitations
The current limitations are finding related articles that contain exactly what is required to perform this research project to better understand the scope of the material. In Research Design, for the questionnaire, I would not be able to control the amount of feedback from the students and the parents.
Delimitations
I believe I can target the correct sample source for my questionnaire due to the significance the topic possess and how it relates to a high schooler’s decisions of their future and their parental support. I will be able to focus the questions in order to retrieve the opinions that are pertinent to the research. Although, I will not be able to control who will reply to the questionnaire, I can attempt to make it available to the target population by developing it into multiple forms. Such as a hard copy in meetings or an electronic copy that can be sent by email or with the use of an on-line survey/questionnaire generator.
Literature Review
There are millions of jobs in the United States that are not filled due to a lack of skilled workers (Albattah, Goodrum, & Taylor, 2015). This shortage is called the skills gap. America’s growth in industry is limited to the amount of workers it possesses that can meet the demand of highly skilled workers. There are two possible causes for this shortage, retirement of older skilled workers and the lack of training of new workers (Stockard, 2019).
Aging and Retiring Workforce
As the older workers retire, they take with them years of knowledge and training in their fields. For example, the Baby Boomer generation made up 49% of the construction trades workforce. As this group has entered the retirement age, recent generations were not looking at construction as their primary goal after finishing high school (Albattah, Goodrum, & Taylor, 2015).
Training/Educaiton/College
It is surmised that the best career path for today’s average American, starts by heading to college to attain a degree in higher education. The workforce emerging from the recent generations has been overly influenced by technology and the idea that a college degree is needed to make “good money” (Rothwell, 2016). The mentality and attitude seems to be that working a trade is less desirable than pursuing a four year degree at college. The downside of a college education is the debt acquired after four years (or more) without the solid prospect of a job. In the same respect, a high school graduate who acquires training in a trade school or other skilled area, would have little to no debt, with skills that can be taken anywhere in the U.S. The latter in the minds of most modern Americans is not recognized as being as successful as the job potential of a college graduate.
Manual Labor/Trades
Manual labor has the stigma of being the lesser path because of the difficult work that is associated with the work (Liberty Pen, 2016). Adding to the lack of exposure to the trades and early training to interest young workers, is the shortage of career and technical education(CTE) courses at high schools across the country (Wilkin & Nwoke, 2011). The U.S. is experiencing a teacher shortage, including a lack of CTE instructors. The skilled workforce that had been able to teach welding, construction, automotive repair, diesel mechanics and other types of coursework has retired, leaving few workers to do double duty – working their skilled trade job, while offering to help out the local school for an hour or two to teach a class (Devier, 2019).
Methodology
Research Question
This research intends to investigate the current mindset of Americans concerning skilled trades as a successful career path. The research will be based around the following question:
- What are the possible causes and influences locally for the lack of skilled labor in the United States workforce?
Research Design and Theoretical Framework
This study will focus on the school district within the Regional Office of Education #11 area. This ROE includes primarily rural districts in the area surrounding Eastern Illinois University. The participants of this study would primarily be both male and female students in their junior and senior years of high school, as they approach graduation. These students have a tendency to pay more attention to their future, make initial decisions for study/work options after high school, and the plans necessary to meet their goals. The second group of participants would be the parents of the upper classmen because of their potential influence and support of the upcoming graduates. Discovering the monetary support offered by the parents is another consideration because of the cost of college or possible support for the students after graduation.
Feasibility
It is understood that not all students and parents of the junior and senior classmen would be willing and able to participate in this research study. I would like 70% rate of return of the questionnaires but 50% would be acceptable for my research. I believe 50% would be sufficient in answering the questions for this research.
Framework Diagram
What problems do Americans have concerning the use of manual labor in finding a successful career?
American Work Mentality Skilled Labor Gap Career Path
Manual Labor Successful Career
Training/ Education Debt
Discussion
Training and education appears to be one of the solutions in placing the right skills in the hands of the right people at the right time. The aging and retiring workforce could be used as a resource in the training of the next generation of workers. Their past knowledge and insight could lead to an increase in understanding and awareness of the use of the skills required to complete tasks resulting in faster work times and advancement in techniques. There needs to be a new mentality in the American society in regards to seeing that trades and the use of technical skills as means to being successful by American standards.
References
Albattah, M.A., Goodrum, P.M., & Taylor, T.R.B. (2015). Demographic influences on construction craft shortages in the U.S. and Canada. 5th International/11th Construction Specialty Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Devier, B.H. (2019). Teacher shortage and alternative licensure solutions for technical educators. The Journal of Technology Studies, 45(2), 48-59.
Liberty Pen. (2017-04-16) Mike Rowe: The Skills Gap [Video file.] Retrieved from
Wilke, T. & Nwoke, G.I. (2011). Career and technical education teacher shortage: A successful model for recruitment and retention. Journal of STEM Teacher Education, 48(1), 22-35. DOI: doi.org/10.30707/JSTE48.1Wilkin
Rothwell, J. (2016). Defining Skilled Technical Work. Issues in Science & Technology, 33(1), 47-51.
Society for Human Resource Management. (2019). The Global Skills Shortage – Bridging the Talent Gap with Education, Training and Sourcing [PDF file]. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-and- surveys/Documents/SHRM%20Skills%20Gap%202019.pdf
Stockard, S. (2019). Workforce development – Facing a shortage of skilled labor. Economic
Development Journal, 18(3), 45-50.
Yglesias, M. (2019). The “skills gap” was a lie. Retrieved September 2020, from
http://www.vox.com/2019/1/7/18166951/skills-gap-modestino-shoag-ballance
