As digital technology replaces antiquated analog systems in all facets of commerce at a blistering pace, so-called "blue-collar" jobs are evolving, as a greater level of technical expertise has become necessary to keep pace with modern systems. According to new research by Accenture, Harvard Business School and Burning Glass, companies are hurting for people to fill these jobs, and expect to need more and more as time goes on. This has both drawbacks and opportunities. It could open up all kinds of possibilities for workers without degrees to advance their careers, sharpen their skills, and make themselves more marketable. Accenture's David Smith, Senior Managing Director-Accenture Strategy, Talent & Organization, sat down with us to discuss the problems and the opportunities caused by this middle-skills jobs gap.
Consulting: What are some of the factors Accenture's research found to be the cause of this middle skills gap?
Smith: Employers aren't really doing a good job predicting and mapping their talent needs for the future. They really have to think about middle-skills talent and how to fill it. Jobs are becoming much more digital and requiring higher level of skill in the middle skills space than we've seen in the past. Employers have to get good at predicting, planning and preparing for that. Secondly, employers are saying they're having trouble finding people with higher-end skills in the middle skill space in certain industries. That affects performance. Ultimately we think it's affecting U.S. competitive performance.
Consulting: Is it more of an issue on the supply or demand side?
Smith: It's both. On the demand side, there is demand. Seventy-three percent of employers surveyed said there will be a middle skills increase within their organization over the next 2-3 years. On the supply side there appears to be some segmentation. You don't need a four-year degree but you can't come out of high school and be a network administrator day one. Even in the sales space, having higher-level math skills in the retail space is very important to success and growth.
Consulting: Are these middle skills a modern incarnation of trades such as plumbing, carpentry etc.?
Smith: I think that's a really good analogy. If you look in the marketplace one of the hard positions to fill is engineering technicians. It's not full engineers, but it's having engineering skills, a click down. That really is the new generation. Technology is coming into the trade space. Cable technicians, for instance at a Cox or a Comcast, they have to have a higher level of skills because they're computer-based systems today running their networks. So it is the new set of trades.
Consulting: What's the knock-on effect on lower higher or lower-skills jobs?
Smith: Everything is clicking up. Employers have to think about segmentation. You're raising the overall bar which hopefully raises wages, competitiveness and drives better economic success I think is what the model shows. There's also this yin and yang going on in how to build higher-level middle skills. Do I the employer have the responsibility for that or I as the potential employee have responsibility for that? I think we're going to see both move to the middle. Employers are going to have to train more than in the past and put some investment into that. With more clarity in the marketplace, meaning employers getting better at communicating what skills they expect, employees are going to also have to take some level of responsibility to build some of those skills.
Consulting: How does the gap affect the United States' competitiveness?
Smith: What our study showed is that 69 percent of the companies said this affects their performance. What this means it it's a productivity issue. When they can't find people they cant run production lines, they cant run systems strong enough, they can't get the pay right. When it affects business performance, it affects a businesses ability to pay the appropriate rates for the appropriate people to drive the business to a higher level. We in the U.S. have gotten smarter about there being multiple paths to success, but it's about getting the people aligned correctly into the marketplace. We have people with four-year college degrees doing middle- and lower-skills jobs. Employees and employers have accepted it, and it causes lots of issues in the system. One being somebody not making the economic proposition they thought they'd get with a four-year degree. Therefore their ability to pay off debt becomes a longer problem than it should be.
Consulting: Is there a precedent for this dearth of middle skills job?
Smith: I think we're at a junction point where there's this transformation going on. Companies are saying they need more technical talent but need people who run the systems. In the sales space, they're saying 'my product is much more complex, it's integrating in with a broader system, therefore my sales rep has to have a higher level of capability of what they've done.'
In the old days we called it blue collar. It's not blue-collar stuff anymore, which is why we're adopting the term "middle skills", because we think that's real. You've got to have more than a high school education. Not everybody is going to get a four-year degree for a variety of reasons and that's fine, but there are things in the marketplace that can create real paths to success for employees as well as employers by continuing to build on your skills. We're staring to see innovation come into the marketplace that continues to build the next tier of skills for everybody.
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