The future U.S. workforce is here–and it is woefully ill-prepared for the demands of today’s (and tomorrow’s) workplace. So say employers in a unique study by The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, Partnership for 21 Century Skills, and the Society for Human Resource Management, which looks at the readiness of new entrants to the workforce. Knowing how employers view these new entrants is an important first step in enabling both these new entrants and U.S. business to succeed on the global economic playing field.
The four participating organizations jointly surveyed over 400 employers across the United States. These employers articulate the skill sets that new entrants–recently hired graduates from high school, two-year colleges or technical schools, and four-year colleges–need to succeed in the workplace. Among the most important skills cited by employers:
Professionalism/Work Ethic
Oral and Written Communications
Teamwork/Collaboration and
Critical Thinking/Problem Solving.
In fact, the findings indicate that applied skills1 on all educational levels trump basic knowledge and skills, such as Reading Comprehension and Mathematics. In other words, while the “three Rs” are still fundamental to any new workforce entrant’s ability to do the job, employers emphasize that applied skills like Teamwork/Collaboration and Critical Thinking are “very important” to success at work.