????6月13日，美國總統奧巴馬參觀了北卡羅來納州達勒姆市的照明設備制造商克里公司（Cree, Inc），參觀結束后，奧巴馬總統就經濟問題發表了演講。

????之前，美國的中學幾乎都設有機械車間，學生可以在這里學到基本的機械知識，這為初級制造業崗位的人才培養打下了基礎。

????而現在，制造商們紛紛抱怨，求職者通常并不具備這種基礎的車間工作技能，更不用說那些復雜和高級的制造工藝所要求的計算機技能，以及其他知識。而且，一些制造商也承認，制造業需要改變其在人們印象中低賤而單調的低端市場形象。

????捆扎固定裝置制造商Click Bond公司聯合創始人柯利?哈特表示：“其實制造業的工作并非單調的苦差事。人們有時候對制作業的看法存在偏見。”該公司位于內華達州卡森城市，主要為航空和其他交通市場生產工業緊固件。

????“我們車間內有125臺電腦。我們配有復雜的設備。工人必須了解如何輸入數據，如何進行計算，如何測量，以及如何記錄和通信等。”

????但哈特和其他制造業的雇主都表示，盡管美國目前的失業率為9.1%，但制造業的工作崗位依然不受人待見。

????教育和培訓不足，工作被外包到海外，或者企業未能提供在國內的工作崗位，到底是什么原因導致了這一現象？目前圍繞這一問題爭論激烈。對于造成制造業尷尬地位的罪魁禍首，美國經濟評論員們眾說紛紜；而且，在大起大落的經濟環境下，依然沒有一個解決方案，能夠創造充足的工作崗位。

????在整個美國就業市場中，制造業的雇傭表現一直是個亮點。該行業的雇傭人數曾連續20個月持續上升，但在今年5月份開始下降。而美國全國制造商協會（National Association of Manufacturers）下屬的制造業學會（Manufacturing Institute）表示，未來十年，預計需要工人數量最多的20個制造業崗位將要求求職者至少接受過中學程度的教育。在這些崗位中，包括高層管理人員，年均工資可達107,970美元，工業工程師的年均工資也可達到75,740美元。

????經濟分析機構Chmura Economics & Analytics與美國勞工部（the U.S. Department of Labor）的數據顯示，未來十年，這20個職業將提供超過100萬個工作崗位——其中過半分布在高科技行業。這些崗位的平均工資遠超過除醫療保健和社會救助之外的其他所有工作崗位。

????但這些崗位對技能的要求也在不斷提高。制造業學會的數據顯示，與2003年相比，同類崗位中今年要求更高級別技能的崗位數量增長了12%。

萬能證書

????制造商們一致認為，要想幫助資格不達標的求職者填補目前和未來的職位空缺，第一步是增強培訓，使求職者做好進入車間的準備。在行業和美國聯邦政府的支持下，超過30個州正在為社區學院學生和制造業雇主推出最新的國家級認證系統。

????Not only has strong demand for tablet computers -- led by Apple's (AAPL) iPad -- cut into notebook PC sales, but it has started to be felt in the market for high-definition televisions.

????That's the thrust of a note issued Wednesday by Hudson Square Research's Daniel Ernst. The evidence:

????His weekly survey shows the average price per square inch of HDTVs down 23.4% year over year so far this month vs. the 18% decline he recorded in June 2010.

????He's been checking the stores and observed "thin activity" in the TV aisles, compared with "strong activity" for tablets and smartphones.

????Total worldwide TV unit sales were up only 0.9% in the first quarter of 2011, according to Display Search, vs. 17.4% in 2010. For HDTVs, first-quarter unit sales were up 8.9% year over year vs. 30.9% in 2010.

????Ernst acknowledges that the lack of activity in the TV aisles could be due in part to the time of year, and that the disaster in Japan and weak housing trends in the U.S. could also be factors.

????But it makes sense. A new gadget is a new gadget. And if you can watchThe Daily ShoworTrue Gritor Wimbledon in high-definition on a $500 tablet perched on your belly, you may not feel as compelled to spend $3,000 for a 55-inch TV set in your living room.

????制造商學會制定了一個認證系統，旨在協調社區學院與技術學院的課程和技術證書頒發機構，比如美國焊接工程協會（American Welding Society）等，以幫助人們獲得證書或學位，或者兩者兼得。

????與目前各州和教育界的努力相比，制造技能認證系統可以提供更統一的證書，并且這一計劃已經獲得了美國總統奧巴馬的支持。在本月早些時候，奧巴馬表示，他將采取措施幫助500,000名社區學院學生獲得行業認可的證書。

????本月初，奧巴馬總統在參觀北弗吉尼亞社區學院（Northern Virginia Community College）時表示：“對于有招聘計劃的公司來說，他們能明確地知道學生學位中所包含的特定培訓內容?！彼a充道：“畢業生也可以知道，他們在社區學院獲得的文憑在就業市場中的價值?！?/p>

????美國政府也提出了一個培訓計劃，目的是在一年內培訓10,000名工程類學生。本月早些時候，在參觀北卡羅來納州達勒姆的一家照明設施與組件制造商時，奧巴馬總統表示，高科技企業的報告稱目前具備必要的數學和計算機技能的求職者嚴重匱乏。

培訓真的已經足夠了嗎？

????美國工程協會（American Engineering Association）等批評者反駁稱，美國有大量的工程師隨時待命，但卻慘遭辭退，原因在于企業為了降低成本，傾向于雇傭更廉價的外國工程人員。但企業界卻并不贊同這一說法，他們認為美國學校培養出的工程師很少有人能滿足他們的實際需求。

????其他觀點認為，這一類職業培訓項目的范圍太小，影響有限。威廉姆?J?荷爾斯泰因認為：“我們需要將目前社區學院的再培訓項目擴大三倍或四倍，才能真正減少失業人數。我們得有‘大’的目標，而不能循序漸進。”荷爾斯泰因近期出版了一本新書《下一代美國經濟》（The Next American Economy）。

????荷爾斯泰因也認為，美國的勞動力需要進行再培訓，但并非所有培訓和再培訓都能發揮作用。許多培訓項目都是在白費力氣。

????針對如何解決就業難題，美國政府最新成立的就業委員會并沒有提出開創性的解決方案，而只是老調重彈，比如為小企業提供貸款。這再次表明創造就業機會困難重重。

????該委員會被委以重任，需要制定出明確的應急措施，在未來兩年內創建100萬個工作崗位。而據美國商務部（U.S. Commerce Department）的統計顯示，這個數字只占到美國國內消失的工作崗位的三分之一。

????對于獲得全國認可的技能認證項目，部分優秀的行業巨頭業紛紛表示支持，其中包括食品加工公司阿徹丹尼爾斯米德蘭（Archer Daniels Midland）。

????公司負責人力資源的高級副總裁麥克?德安布羅斯解釋道：“我們需要電工和焊工等技術工人，但是這些工人不好招。”

????ADM已經通過簽約的方式，針對社會上的高需求崗位，幫助30,000位高危青少年獲得所需要的證書，并對新入職員工進行例行培訓。但德安布羅斯認為：“單憑這些努力，還是解決不了根本問題?！?/p>

????他表示，位于伊利諾伊州迪凱特的ADM公司與當地的社區學院和技術學院達成了合作，但公司同時也支持拓寬認證渠道，使證書的獲取更為容易，同時更容易得到整個制造業的認可。

????而規模較小的Click Bond公司聯合創始人柯利?哈特認為，多方協作至關重要。協作涉及的方面包括，對未來工作崗位類型的預測，以及如何確保社區學院為新工作崗位培養合適的人才，并讓學生們為新的、未知的職業做好準備。

????制造學會總裁艾米麗?德洛克表示，認證項目“可培養更多具有便攜式技能的高素質人才”。并且，270萬嬰兒潮一代在近十年內將退休，進而導致經驗豐富的員工出現不足。而該項目可以抵消這一人才需求缺口。

????福賽斯技術社區學院（Forsyth Technical Community College）（位于北卡羅來納州溫斯頓塞勒姆市）的校長加里?格林表示，學院對課程進行了修訂，以便與最新的制造技能系統保持一致。

????北卡羅來納州的失業率高達9.7%，但格林表示：“企業希望員工具有更高的機械操作以及其他技能，足以操作重型設備，并勝任該州新興的金屬制造業工作?！?/p>

????歸根結底，企業能否找到他們需要的工人才是關鍵。波士頓調查公司（Boston Consulting Group）在五月份公布的調查結果顯示，企業高管認為，熟練的技術工人是“創新成功的最關鍵要素——也是最難獲取的要素。”

????The Manufacturing Institute developed a credentialing system to coordinate programs in community and technical colleges with skills certificate-granting associations like the American Welding Society to assist people seeking a certificate or degree, or both.

????The Manufacturing Skills Certification system offers more uniform credentialing than current state or academic efforts, and it won the support of President Obama, who, earlier this month, said he would back an effort to help 500,000 community college students obtain industry-recognized credentials.

????"So if you're a company looking to hire, you'll know exactly what kind of training went into a specific degree," Obama said in an appearance earlier this month at Northern Virginia Community College. And graduates will know that the community college diploma they earn "will be valuable when you hit the job market," he added.

????The White House also proposed a program to train 10,000 engineering students a year. Speaking earlier this month at a A lighting fixture and component manufacturer in Durham, N.C., Obama said that high-tech businesses are reporting a scarcity of applicants who have the necessary math and computer skills.

????Is training really enough?

????Critics like the American Engineering Association counter that there are plenty of American engineers ready to work but have been laid off by companies eager to replace them with less costly foreign-born counterparts. But businesses argue that U.S. colleges are graduating too few engineers to meet their needs.

????Others say that such job training programs are too small to make a difference. "We need to triple and quadruple what we're doing at community colleges with retraining to really start moving the unemployment numbers," says William J. Holstein, author of the recently published book, The Next American Economy. "We need to think big, not incrementally."

????Holstein agrees that the American workforce needs retraining, but "not all kinds of training and retraining are effective. Much of it is wasted effort.

????The White House's new jobs council has offered familiar prescriptions to address the job conundrum like providing loans to small businesses, rather than proposing any cutting-edge solutions, underscoring just how difficult it is to create jobs.

????The council has been tasked with coming up with broad fixes to create 1 million jobs in the next two years. And that would only account for a third of the jobs that have disappeared from American soil, according to U.S. Commerce Department data.

????Some prominent industry giants, including food processor Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), have lined up behind the nationally recognized skills certificate program.

????"We have trouble finding those with skills we need like electricians and welders," explains Mike D'Ambrose, the company's senior vice president for human resources.

????ADM, which has signed on to help 30,000 high-risk teenagers earn credentials for high-demand jobs, routinely trains its new hires, but "that's not enough on its own," D'Ambrose acknowledges.

????The Decatur, Ill.-based company works with local community and technical colleges, he says, but it endorses the broader certificate approach to make credentials portable and recognized across the manufacturing industry.

????At the much smaller Click Bond, co-founder Collie Hutter argues that having such a coordinated effort could be key to forecasting what kinds of jobs are going to be created and ensuring that community colleges prepare students for new, as yet unknown, careers.

????Emily DeRocco, president of the Manufacturing Institute, says that the certificate program "will create a bigger pool of highly qualified people with skills that are portable" and help offset the looming shortage of well-trained workers due to the 2.7 million Baby Boomers expected to retire this decade.

????Gary Green, president of the Forsyth Technical Community College, in Winston-Salem, N.C., says his institution already has revamped its curriculum to align with the new manufacturing skills system.

????North Carolina is facing a steep 9.7% unemployment, but, Green says, "Companies want workers with higher levels of machining and other skills to work on heavy equipment and other metal manufacturing that has moved to the state."

????It all comes down to whether companies can find the workers they need. According to a Boston Consulting Group survey published in May, company executives say skilled workers are "the single most critical element of innovation success -- and the hardest to acquire."