Welcome to the future, workplace challenges: high tech skill are now required

WORKPLACE CHALLENGES: High-Tech Skills Are Now Required

They say the economy is booming -- and jobs are plentiful. Business leaders tell us there are more jobs than people to fill them. Employee salaries are reported to be "on the rise", and companies once mired in layoffs and downsizing are scrambling to hire new workers.

So you're back to work! But the work place might well be a very different thing! Since you left the job a few years ago, the changes that have probably taken place are greater than at any time in history.

Today's work-returnee will find a job setting which has been altered by the explosive growth of technology. An explosion, in fact, that has catapaulted some companies to more success than they ever dreamed possible, but that same technological phenomenon threatens to leave the landscape littered with the hopes and dreams of others.

JOB EXPLOSION '98

So you're back to work, but it's a different playing field these days, and those men and women who were sent to the sidelines when jobs disappeared just a few short years ago, are warming up to get back in the game.

The reality of the jobs being created now and into the next millenium are of two basic types -- high-tech, high pay; low skill, low pay. We are indeed experiencing an economic boom in today's economy, but it is generally uneven in the occupational sense.

According to professor Dan Mitchell, who teaches at UCLA's Anderson School of Management and its school of Public Policy, "At one end, you've got your fast growing, glamorous high-tech kind of thíngs. And then you've got your janitors, sales clerks, cashiers -- jobs that are hard to automate and can't be completed out of existence or farmed out to Hong Kong."

Juan Martinez happily prepared to return to the work force, and wisely chose to attend a Career Fair in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He knew he would have to become computer knowledgable before seeking a job, and thought that attending the Job Fair would be a good starting point.

Just the process of registering at the event was an overwhelming awakening to Martinez that he had been out of the mainstream too long. He quickly saw evidences of confronting the realities of a world that seems to have gotten too busy, too clever to waste time waiting, and too organized, all thanks to the technological explosion.

Just filling out the registration form was eye-opening for Martinez. There were places on the fórm for name and phone number, then cellular phone, pager number, message center, e-mail address....

A NEW BEGINNING

Martinez was not alone. There were literally hundreds of job seekers that day at that job fair event that were in the same boat. And the career fair buoyed the notions of the men and women in attendance that the rising economic tide could lift even the most rickety of boats.

The bottom line for many is that although the jobs are being offered, the requirements for employees have changed, In Today's world, computer-literacy is almost a "must". Some companies will sponsor computer-training classes for their own employees, but they are reluctant to hire, new employees who have not had this training.

With the recession over, it's time to get back into the game! The reality is that there's an odd sort of disconnect between the cheery economic forecasts and the real fives of displaced workers, struggling to find their way to the new high-tech frontier.

Gloria Perez-Roman had worked her way up from bank teller to branch manager when her bank merged with a competitor and shut her office three years ago. At the age of 42, she joined the ranks of the unemployed -- ranks which were swelled by mergers and downsizing, outsourcing and restructuring. Gloria has worked only occasionally since then -- in jobs which were far afield from her banking career.

Attending the job fair with her resumes in hand, Gloria was struck by the number of other job-seekers in her midst who carried laptop computers and cellular phones. She scanned the booths for hopefuls, stopping to offer her resume to those young men and women who seemed interested in her banking background.

But each time she came away, Gloria felt the same nagging reminder of the crucial lapse of time. Ever present was the awareness that she did not know a megabyte from a Gigapet -- and that perhaps the computer programmer was better suited for the job to which she was applying.

LONG ON LEARNING

It's the story of out times. Workers watch helplessly as new technology makes their jobs obsolete -- then technology tries to right the wrong by creating new jobs.

The phenomenon is not nearly as modern as one might think. In the late 1920's when dial telephones became the rage, many telephone operators were suddenly without jobs. But during the Depression years of 1929 through 1932, new technolooy helped create employment. Jobs in radio broadcasting and machine tool operators were booming.

Back to Gloria. Unfortunately, her banking background left her with no job due to a merger, and knowledge of an occupation -- bank teller -- like secretary and farmer, are among the ten fastest-shrinking jobs in America, due to automated technology. She is indeed at a crossroads, and in need of updated training to qualify for another traditional job.

lt is anticipated that by the year 2005, the nation's job growth expected to be highly concentrated in certain industries, with service, retail, health and business all growing -- while manufacturing, crafts, repairs and mining industries will all be showing declines in job availability.

TEACHING TEACHERS

The role of the teacher has expanded. The question which arises addresses the fact that the profession may not be changing fast enough to keep up with the changes in society.

Nowadays the teacher must also be advisor, family counselor, nurse and conflict manager, as well as making our teachers technologically correct.

There is a very clear role of technology in education, and the teaching profession is challenged to keep up with the demand. The real challenge is the fine line which does not mean abolishing pencil and paper in favor of a computer -- but using computers to make learning more real and more immediate for students.

Teachers who are able to inspire students are those who teach students how to use the computer as a tool to discover the world for themselves -- to learn on their own and to keep on learning. Our society is now so technologically enhanced that we must give the school-age pupils the skills to access information in every way possible.

The ideal classroom would maintain its own Web site. Parents could then log onto the site, view video clips and find out firsthand what lessons were presented that day. For these activities, parents and children must learn together to use the machines.

Making these changes in our school system will produce a generation of young men and women who are not only trained for the new tech demands of the working world, but also a generation of people who are interested in learning and seeking information. The rewards to society of this goal lies partly in the immediate hands of the educational system, and more particularly with our teachers.

HIGH TECH JOBS

Take charge of your career with training in communication skills. Programs abound for leaming technology to keep up with the new marketplace. Intense, accelerated programs for working adults are offered in every major area of the country.

Evening and week-end colleges are also springing up, and academic and business advisors are available to consult with prospective students about their needs in the high-tech fields.

Just as the face of American business is changing, so an unprecedented market growth is expected. The vision of the employers is to create high-commitment and high-involvement in the work setting, thereby leading to a competitive edge.

It is the responsibility of the employee to meet the demands of fulfilling the job specifications. In short order, we have evolved from a predominantly industrial nation to a land of "knowledge workers". Yesterday's styles are obsolete. We are tomorrow's workers -- and we are moving business and industry into the new millennium.

COPYRIGHT 1997 Hispanic Times Enterprises
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group