如何爲僱主和求職者牽線搭橋

So here’s an interesting statistic from a 2014 labor survey by : 65 percent of new job postings for executive secretaries and executive assistants now call for a bachelor’s degree, but “only 19 percent of those currently employed in these roles have a B.A.” So four-fifths of secretaries today would not be considered for two-thirds of the job postings in their own field because they do not have a four-year degree to do the job they are already doing! The study noted that an “increasing number of job seekers face being shut out of middle-skill, middle-class occupations by employers’ rising demand for a bachelor’s degree” as a job-qualifying badge — even though it may be irrelevant, or in no way capture someone’s true capabilities, or where perhaps two quick online courses would be sufficient.

網站2014年勞動力調查中有一組有趣的統計數據：有65%的新的行政祕書和行政助理的職位要求大學本科學歷，但“那些目前在這些崗位上的職員中只有19%擁有本科學位”，所以有五分之四的公司祕書對於這一領域中三分之二的招聘信息而言，都是不夠格的，因爲他們沒有四年制學位，以保證他們得到一份自己原本已經在做的工作！該研究指出，由於僱主對本科學位的需求增多，“越來越多的求職者面臨被中等技能、中產階級的職位拒之門外”，學位的要求好比是求職者身上必須擁有的“徽章”，即使它可能是和工作領域不相關的，或無法體現人的真實能力，抑或修兩門速成在線課程就足夠了。

This is just one of the problems contributing to unemployment and underemployment today. It was the subject of a seminar last Thursday jointly convened by New America, McKinsey, LinkedIn and Opportunity@Work, a new civic group led by Byron Auguste, who headed President Obama’s recent efforts to reform the education-to-work pathway in America. The meeting’s focus was a new McKinsey study on how we can use big data and online talent platforms to better nurture talent in the work force, find it where it already exists but may not be “badged” by a college degree and connect it both with the real demands of businesses and with colleges looking to make their curriculum more relevant to changing work force needs. As Senator Mark Warner, who delivered a smart keynote address, noted, “Almost 25 people are running for President — and it is remarkable to me that not one of them is talking about these issues.”

這僅僅是造成當下的失業和就業不足問題的其中一個原因。這是上週四一個研討會上討論的主題，這個研討會由新美國(New America)、麥肯錫(McKinsey)、領英(LinkedIn)和拜倫·奧古斯特(Byron Auguste)領導的新的民間團體Opportunity@Work共同主辦。奧古斯特負責奧巴馬總統從教育到工作路徑改革的工作。本次會議着重討論了麥肯錫的一份研究報告，是關於我們如何能夠利用大數據和網上人才平臺，以更好地培養工作崗位上的人才，以實現即使這些人才沒有被貼上大學學位的徽章，也能在其所在之處找到他們，把人才和需要他們的企業以及尋求使課程更加契合不斷變化的勞動力需求的高校連接起來。正如參議員馬克·沃納(Mark Warner)在他於本次會議上所做的聰明的主題演講中所指出的那樣，“有近25個人在準備競選總統，但他們當中卻沒有一個人在談論這些問題，這在我看來是非常緊要的問題。”

The McKinsey study begins: “Labor markets around the world have not kept pace with rapid shifts in the global economy, and their inefficiencies take a heavy toll.” Millions of people can’t find work, “yet sectors from technology to health care cannot find people to fill open positions. Many who do work feel overqualified or underutilized.”

麥肯錫的一份研究報告開篇就說：“世界各地的勞動力市場沒有跟上全球經濟迅速變化的步伐，勞動力市場的低效帶來了沉重的代價。”數以百萬計的人找不到工作，“然而，從高科技到醫療保健在內的各行各業難以找到人才來填補空缺職位。很多在崗的人感覺自己被大材小用或未能人盡其才。”

“The skills gap is real,” explained Auguste, “but it is a symptom — not the cause — of a dysfunctional labor market, along with stagnant wages and declining job mobility.” While it’s true that more people need to master digital skills today, there are, he noted, a lot of people with skills employers are seeking — like coding skills — but who may lack the traditional credentials to be considered for the jobs. There are people who would be happy and able to master these skills but don’t have the information on what they are, where best to learn them, or access to new learning platforms that are not covered by traditional government loans or grants; companies have employees in their warehouses, call centers and retail floors with the motivation and aptitude to learn the skills for new jobs, but too few employers identify them or offer them online training opportunities; and there are rural and urban areas where tapping into the potential of less-credentialed workers could bring I.T. jobs back to U.S. shores.

奧古斯特解釋說，“技能差距是真實存在的，但它是以下情況的表象而不是原因，即存在一個失調的勞動力市場，工資停滯和就業流動性下降。”儘管當下的確有更多人需要掌握數字技能，但是他指出，也有很多人擁有僱主所需要的本領，好比編程技能，但卻可能因缺乏傳統的學位使自己無法成爲應徵者；還有的人樂意並且能夠掌握這些技能，但卻不瞭解這些技能是什麼，不知道去哪裏才能獲取這些技能，或者無法接觸到在傳統的政府貸款或資助範疇之外的新型學習平臺；各家公司的倉庫裏，呼叫中心和零售部門都有員工有着爲獲取新工作而學習新技能的動機和能力，但卻沒有幾位僱主能發現他們，或爲他們提供在線培訓機會；在美國多個農村和城市地區，如果能調動缺乏文憑的工人的潛能，就有機會把IT就業崗位帶回到美國本土。

Check out LinkedIn has a giant database of millions of workers, which it analyzed to see which schools are launching the most graduates into the top firms in a variety of fields. They’re not always what you’d expect. Accounting? Villanova and Notre Dame. Media? N.Y.U. and Hofstra. Software developers? Carnegie Mellon, Caltech and Cornell. Whether you want to be a plumber or surgeon, it is useful to know which schools’ alumni keep rising at the leading firms.

請瀏覽網址，LinkedIn有一個龐大的數據庫，裏面有數百萬計人才的信息。它通過分析數據，可以看到哪些學校正在向各個領域的頂尖公司輸送最多的畢業生。這些學校並不總是你所預想的那些。會計行業？維拉諾瓦大學(Villanova)和聖母大學(Notre Dame)。傳媒行業？紐約大學(N.Y.U.)和霍夫斯特拉大學(Hofstra)。軟件開發人員？卡耐基·梅隆大學(Carnegie Mellon)，加州理工學院(Caltech)和康奈爾(Cornell)。無論你想成爲一名水管工或外科醫生，知道哪些學校的校友羣能一直在業界頂尖的公司裏平步青雲是很有用的。

Technology is redefining work and commerce, and if we’re smart it can also redefine education for employment and advancement so everyone can monetize, or improve, any skill and connect with any employer in need of it. “Up to 540 million people could benefit from online talent platforms by 2025,” McKinsey said. It is not that hard. We need to be making much better use of the federal government’s labor market data and that of websites like , and LinkedIn, and even consider creating skill equivalents of the Obamacare health exchanges. Online talent platforms — that can link everyone’s C.V. with every job opening, with the skills needed for that job, with the online and campus-based schools offering those skills with data showing which schools do it best — create more employment, more relevant skills and the right education for them.

技術正在重新定義工作和商業，如果我們足夠聰明，也可以重新定義與就業和職業發展有關的教育，讓擁有任何技能的每個人都能賺錢，或提升自己，並與任何僱主需要這一技能的僱主連接。麥肯錫表示，“到2025年前，高達5.4億人受益於網上人才平臺。”這不難實現。我們需要更好地利用聯邦政府的勞動力市場數據和類似，和LinkedIn這樣的網站，甚至考慮建立類似奧巴馬醫改計劃中的醫保交易平臺的人才交流平臺。這一在線人才平臺可以連接每個人的簡歷與每一個空缺職位，連接某個職位所需的技能和提供這些技能培訓的在線和實體學校，並且提供數據顯示哪個學校做得最好——帶來了更多的就業，更多的相關技能，並提供了與之相關的正確教育方式。

Congress needs to create the legal, privacy and financial incentives to nurture this new social contract, argued Senator Warner: “The biggest challenge for this labor force, and for federal policy makers, is the change in the traditional employer-employee relationship.” If we used all our technology resources, said Aneesh Chopra, former chief technology officer of the United States, we could actually give people “personalized recommendations for every step of your life — at every step of your life.” Adds Auguste: “We can use technology to do more than automate tasks. We can use it to accelerate learning, optimize talent, and guide people into better jobs and careers.”

國會需要通過立法、隱私和財政激勵措施培育這一新的社會契約。參議員華納指出，“對於勞動力大軍以及聯邦政策制定者來說，最大的挑戰在於傳統的僱主-僱員關係的變化。”正如美國前首席技術官阿尼什·喬普拉(Aneesh Chopra)所說的，如果我們利用我們所有的技術資源，我們可以爲“人們生活的每一步提供個性化的建議，在你生活中的每一個節點”。奧古斯特補充說，“技術不僅僅可被利用做自動化工作。我們還可以用它來加速學習，優化人才，引導人們獲得更好的工作和事業。”

The robots will only take all the jobs if we let them — so let’s use technology to keep the middle skilled in the middle class.

機器人會得到所有的工作，如果我們允許其發生的話。所以，讓我們用技術來保證那些擁有中等技能的人才得以繼續成爲中產階層的一員吧。