Conference Presentation, Panel, Fireside Chat, Interview
A Conversation with Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Secretary, U.S. Dept. of Commerce | The American Workforce
Milken InstituteWilbur L. Ross, Jr., Gerard Baker, Bernard Harris, Jr., Barbara Humpton, Jonathan Sokoloff, John, Wilbur Ross
- The administration aims to secure eight million apprenticeship commitments from companies by the end of the current session, building on seven million five hundred thousand pledges already made for the next five years.
- A primary objective of the Workforce Advisory Board is to complete identified actions and implement them by December of next year, focusing on creating pathways beyond four-year degrees, ensuring job transparency, preventing over-qualification, and encouraging business-led training.
- STEM job growth is projected at approximately 13% annually, requiring two million new roles within five to six years, while the space industry is expected to expand from $400 billion to $4 trillion, generating vast new employment opportunities.
- Significant educational gaps persist, including only 25% of 12th graders proficient in math, 42 million Americans holding student loan debt with an average balance of roughly $32,000, and 36% of four-year college students failing to graduate within six years.
- Economic data indicates that 40% of college graduates work in non-degree-required roles, the bottom half of college graduate pay is lower than the top half of high school graduate pay, and financial illiteracy regarding basic banking concepts is widespread.
- Employers face challenges with high turnover, spending six months and significant funds on training employees who leave for minor wage increases, while 63% of portfolio companies are service providers, and technology spending is the fastest-growing cost.
- Current labor displacement fears are considered overstated, with job loss forecasts typically spanning 20 to 25 years rather than occurring immediately; US factories currently employ two robots per 10,000 workers, a figure that could double without catastrophic job loss.
- Immigration policy seeks to support lawful skill-based immigration and retain STEM-educated foreign students, though progress on graduate-level policies may be delayed until after November 2020 due to challenges with unlawful immigration.
- Strategic interventions include starting computer science education in elementary or middle school, utilizing community colleges for industry-cooperated training such as mobile classrooms, and mapping STEM success indicators at the district level.
- Future workforce readiness requires teaching "know-how" and pivoting skills to children early, changing terminology to recognize high-tech blue-collar roles, and establishing clear entry-level paths regardless of college degrees.
- Potential risks include a severe economic downturn following technological displacement, though current wage pressures and technology are viewed as generating new labor replacements, and the public school system remains resistant to internet-delivered curricula.