Shortage? Or short-changed?: Skilled-worker shortage: fact or fiction
Shortage? Or short-changed?
Linda Musthaler’s column, “Skilled-worker shortage: fact or fiction” is an excellent and insightful column addressing an issue that I have been pointing out to people for years. It is beyond my logical comprehension that many companies looking for skilled workers will ask for experience with some obscure but very easily learned software package that is only a very small part of the duties the prospective employee will perform. The prospect then gets culled for a minor task that may make up less than 1% of their hours worked.
Musthaler has finally gotten into print an excellent point that I hope someone somewhere in corporate America notices so that maybe a little common sense will be used when hiring new employees. Maybe this simple common sense idea that so many people seemed to have missed will start spreading around.
Neal Phelps
Business development manager
SPC Electronics America
Norcross, Ga.
Unfortunately, Linda Musthaler’s column is right on. I would much prefer it were not. I have 20 years in software and networks, including having built an Internet access network with 7 million users including all the control, security, routing, data centers, etc. in Italy.
I returned to the U.S., degree and resume in hand, and have not been able to find any employment at any level no matter how humble.
Every time some politician talks about shortage of skilled labor or jobs Americans will not do, I want to tell them how insulting they are.
David Anderson
Dallas
Thank you for your article, “Skilled-worker shortage: fact or fiction?” I work at a university in a job that I enjoy, but have had much experience trying to go for higher pay at companies that advertise for IT help, but just never seem to want the IT skills that I possess.
I just hope that those companies begin to understand what they are doing to themselves. For myself, when a student asks me if he should go into “computers” as a career, I tell them to not major in that science. I love the work that I am doing, but I had far better job security the 18 years I worked in factories.
Michael Adams
Irving, Texas
Regarding Linda Musthaler’s column, “Skilled-worker shortage: fact or fiction?”: I’m afraid Musthaler is far too correct on this. I think the Dilbertian training mindset (“ain’t nobody gonna learn nuthin’ on my dime”) also contributes to the demand for “fully trained” contractors who can later be shucked off when the next big skill is announced.
John Haeger
Lilburn, Ga.
Right on! And if the company should already have these talented people working for them, would they let them actually innovate and create solutions? Seems technical people are seldom asked to be part of finding solutions to business problems. Managers pick some software product, then tell the IT department to implement it. Really sad.
Brandon Fouts
Senior systems engineer
Puget Sound Regional Council
Seattle
I am an IT professional and could not agree more with Linda Musthaler’s column, “Skilled-worker shortage: fact or fiction”. The cry of “IT shortage” has been ringing in the industry’s ears for a number of years. The problem as I see it is that the industry in general does not provide a stable environment for professionals in the field. I am a contract consultant and have extensive experience in network infrastructure and network security. I have a strong background with both technical and business skills, but like many others, do not fit the exact job description certain employers have.
The most disheartening thing I see in the industry is the lack of upper management support for training and developing employees. The corporate world seems to be looking for an individual that can just take the reigns and drive.
That is not only a foolish concept, but also a failure of the IT industry in general. The strength of any organization is its people. I think it was William Edwards Deming who noted that continuous improvement in both the process of the work and the growth of the people within the organization is what would increase productivity and retention. These are thoughts and words the industry should remember.
Brian Joanis
Madison, Wis.
Right on, Linda! As a mid-forties IT professional, I have watched the industry put the screws to itself. I don’t know whether to stand up and cheer for Musthaler’s position, with which I wholeheartedly agree, or cynically comment, “What else do you expect in an age when no one stops to think past the next corporate/personal/political crisis?”
Hiring managers are usually less qualified than the employees they are trying to hire to fit perfect-candidate profiles, and there does seem to be a dearth of investment in one’s team. When human beings are referred to as “resources” in a corporate culture, you know you’ve got a problem.
Peter Dowker
Richmond, Va.
I couldn’t help but cheer Linda Musthaler’s column. There isn’t a shortage of technically skilled workers so much as a shortage of open-minded managers who know how to access a candidate’s aptitude for a job. All jobs require a learning curve, so why is it so unacceptable to have a learning curve for a specific technology? Awhile back, a company gave me a contingent hire as a project manager subject to being able to place me on a project. They thought they had a great fit for me, but the client didn’t like the fact that I didn’t have any experience in loan processing. Now what exactly couldn’t I figure out about loans given I’m a very results-oriented financial IT services professional who managed to obtain professional engineering, bar and CPA licenses by age 32? To me, the real issue is that managers would rather shirk their hiring responsibilities by requiring a perfect-resume fit rather than take a risk and hire an obvious high performer. This way, if the new hire doesn’t live up to billing, they can simply say it wasn’t their fault, since the resume was perfect.
Alexander Collins
Project manager
BANKLINK/Fiserv
New York
