美國年輕工人淪為注定失敗的一代？
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????這種令人不安的下行趨勢能否改變？如果我們現在就開始致力于構建一個面向未來的戰略共識的話，我相信是可以的。 ????教育依然是起點——這是一切解決方案的前提，但我們目前做的還遠遠不夠。好消息是，全美上下似乎正在就擴大兒童早期教育和改造小學和中學等問題達成越來越多的共識，而且獲得了可喜的進展。要想讓今天的青年工人在全球舞臺上競爭，所有關于“終身學習”的豪言壯語都需要變為現實。我們現在擁有做到這一點的工具。美國所有的大學和社區學院都在嘗試“在線”或遠程課程。同時，許多雇主抱怨說，新入職的員工不具備恰當的技能組合。 ????一個顯而易見的解決方案是，大學、社區學院和行業領袖攜起手來，共同設計課程和實際工作體驗，以改善年輕工人的生產率，讓他們不斷學習，成長，最終獲得收入更高的好工作。 ????但教育本身還不足以解決低迷的就業創造和工資停滯問題。 ????我在接下來的幾篇專欄文章中還將提出其他意見和建議，比如企業不應該一門心思地把短期股東價值作為唯一的經營目標，我們需要創造全新的“下一代”勞工組織，還要設法更新雇傭政策以適應不斷變化的經濟和勞動力形勢。其中一些建議肯定會引起爭議，我非常渴望各位讀者參與進來，暢談各自的真知灼見。通過一番共同努力，我們或許會找到共同點，最終為下一代制定一份跟我們這一代人曾經享有的契約同樣有效的社會契約。（財富中文網） ????本文作者托馬斯?科漢是麻省理工學院斯隆商學院教授，以研究勞資關系、工作和就業等問題著稱。他還著有《恢復美國夢：一項面向美國工薪家庭的議事日程》一書。 ????譯者：葉寒 |
????Can this downward, disturbing trend be changed? I believe it can, if we start work now on building a consensus strategy for the future. ????Education is still the starting point -- a necessary but far from sufficient solution today. The good news is there appear to be a growing consensus and considerable momentum in the country to expand access to early childhood education and to reform elementary and secondary schools. For today's young workers to compete on a global stage, all the rhetoric about "life-long learning" will need to become a reality. We have the tools to do this now. Every U.S. university and community college is experimenting with "online" or distant courses. And many employers complain that new entrants don't have the right mix of skills. ????The obvious solution is for university, community college, and industry leaders to get together and design the coursework and the on-the-job experiences young workers need to be productive, learn, grow, and gain access to better and higher paying jobs. ????But education alone will not solve sluggish job creation or wage stagnation. ????In my upcoming columns, I'll raise other ideas and proposals, such as moving off the fixation with short-term shareholder value as the sole purpose of the firm, the need to invent new "next-generation" labor organizations, and ways to update employment policies to catch up with the changing economy and labor force. Some will be controversial, and I will invite your comments, ideas, and engagement as we go along. Together, we might just find common ground on a Social Contract that works for the next generation as effectively as the old one worked for mine. ????Thomas A. Kochan is a professor of industrial relations, work, and employment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management. He is author of the book,Restoring the American Dream: A Working Families' Agenda for America. |
