Stimulus and Training: This makes sense

Increases in the number of adults going back to school has traditionally correlated to economic downturns. Laid-of workers will apply their severance to re-education. Sometimes they change careers, but often they get the training their former employers neglected – which probably made that worker expendable in the first place. Pity.

I use to own a staffing company that specialized in audiovisual and live event technicians. I remember that in tough times the quality of my applicants would first take a downturn, then begin to improve. The first wave were transient workers – the first to be let go when bad times loomed. The second wave were the overhires – people who could fit in and be useful just about anywhere – but they weren’t special enough to survive lay-offs.

I was often asked by both groups whether going back to school would help their careers. In my mind I was probably thinking, if you have to ask then probably not. Or I mused, not in your case. Kidding aside, my response was always an emphatic yes. But, it may not get you the career you want – just one that is inherently better. And by better I mean less likely to laid-off, with positive advancement opportunities, and that requires continuous training. If the job you want doesn’t require more training as technology and customers get smarter, then you wil be back on the street again in the next recession.

So I am excited that $1.7 Billion of stimulus is targeted to re-education of workers. I am worried that too much of it will go to vocational training for the terminally unemployable instead of career training for good workers in unfortunate industries. Witness the television ads for “medical” careers where you can become a nurses’ aide in 12 months. These ads used to be more realistic – 36 months! I hope we do not end up with a lot of poorly trained people who believe that a little schooling gets them the big bucks. In the 1980’s there were a series of schools that trained video and television engineers and producers. The expectations of the graduates were so far removed from their practical experience that many ended up suing the schools. As an employer, a degree from one of these schools was actually a mark against a prospective employee unless they already had years of experience (and sheeplishly admitted to the training as a break from a busy career or such).

In a new world where we will be churning out a lot of new trainees and re-trained professionals, it’s time to ask “Do we want to go through this again?” I say absolutely yes. It’s 2009 and training tools and education models have advanced tremendously. The bodies of knowledge for many careers and jobs are now well-documented and easy to find. And because so many jobs now rely on computers, it is easier to train to that part of these careers. The practicum portions are now often addressed with good quality video. (If you don’t believe in the value of simulators for training – don’t get on an airliner ever again.)

So I am looking forward to a new wave of re-trained workers who will bring their experience from other industries to their new employers. There are many silver linings in every downturn – training and education is one of them.