Advertisement
Advertisement
Press Release

ASTD CEO Tony Bingham Responds to News on Training

Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Advertisement

ASTD President and CEO Tony Bingham has issued this open letter:

The topic of training and its efficacy have been featured in three national newspapers this summer. USA Today opened the conversation with a June 11 article titled, "Laid off workers retrain but end up in same spot: Jobless;" then came the New York Times with a July 18 article, "After training, still scrambling for employment;" and most recently, an August 1 article in the Washington Post pondered, "Maybe it's job retraining that needs to be retooled."

The American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) would like to provide our perspective on the value of training in response to these stories.

With unemployment still high at 9.5 percent, there are many who have sought to improve their skills through training and are still unemployed. This is certainly an unfortunate reality for some people, and while training alone is not a cure for unemployment; it is part of the solution for those needing different skills to succeed in the job market. To ensure that training investments are well-spent, the public and private sectors must work in partnership to make certain that training is targeted to help individuals prepare for a new occupation or career, meet available job requirements, close skills gaps, and address the hiring needs of the labor market.

Advertisement

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the demand for highly skilled workers will continue to grow over the next decade. In Bridging the Skills Gap, a white paper released by ASTD earlier this year, we note that 85 percent of the work in the United States involves transactions-the exchange of information, products, or services. This shift to a knowledge economy is significant because it requires workers to have a higher level of skills. Tony Carnevale, director of Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce, notes in ASTD's white paper that "Recessions accelerate the trend to eliminate low-wage, low-skill jobs." He continues, "In a recession, the economy goes to sleep, but when it awakens, there will be a need for higher-skilled people to fill skill-intensive jobs."

Advertisement

In a 2009 Time magazine article on the likelihood of unemployment and a decade of low job growth in the U.S., Harvard professor Roberto Mangabiera Unger noted, "making cheap low-end jobs won't deliver a workforce capable of sustaining a competitive advantage." The article pointed out that training helps break the cycle of low skills, low productivity, and low wages.

In today's knowledge economy, senior executives agree that systems and processes are no longer differentiators for organizations; these are becoming commodities. Today, people-their knowledge, skills, and abilities-are the competitive advantage for organizations. As the economy rebounds, organizations in the public and private sectors must strategically invest in developing the skills and knowledge of people who are working and those who want to work. Our opportunities for growth and success depend heavily on having a skilled workforce. It's incumbent on all of us to use every available tool, including training, to achieve that potential.

Tony Bingham
President and CEO, ASTD

About the Author

The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is a professional membership organization supporting those who develop the knowledge and skills of employees in organizations around the world. The ATD Staff, along with a worldwide network of volunteers work to empower professionals to develop talent in the workplace.

Be the first to comment
Sign In to Post a Comment
Sorry! Something went wrong on our end. Please try again later.