The Next Phase

“In all modern depressions, recessions, or growth-corrections, as variously they are called, we never miss the goods that are not produced. We miss only the opportunities for the labor-for the jobs-that are not provided.”

-J.K. Galbraith

When prominent members of the state’s business community gathered for the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s annual leadership conference last fall, they focused their discussion on ways to promote clean energy as a new growth industry for Washington state. There was talk of cheap plastic solar cells that can generate energy in cloudy weather, smart electricity grids that channel energy from windmills east of the Cascades to electric cars west of them, and jet biofuels drawn from new strains of super-crops.

Not since the dot-com era has a new industry generated so much excitement. And for good reason. What other industry promises new profits, reduces dependence on imported oil and cuts greenhouse gases-with federal stimulus money footing much of the bill? Best of all, the sector promises jobs for our hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers. Building a smart grid, for example, would require an army of electricians to upgrade the power system, install smart meters at every house and build charging stations for electric cars. But how many electricians do we have? Are there apprenticeships and courses in place to train more? Do our high school graduates even know enough math to train for such jobs?

As we begin 2010 with near double-digit unemployment rates, it’s time to review the mismatch between the work force and our economic future.

Education and health care services employ more than 360,000 people, up from 200,000 in 1990. Yet, while our hospitals face a shortage of doctors, nurses and technicians, our schools produce too many graduates in psychology, sociology and the humanities.

True, many of those graduates end up in professional and business services that account for 344,000 jobs in the state, up about 75 percent from 1990. But that sector, which includes lawyers and architects, depends heavily on growth industries like software. Yet those sectors suffer from a shortage of software engineers.

The state’s manufacturing sector, even after years of offshoring, still provides 280,000 jobs. But it also suffers from shortages of skilled laborers, and Boeing’s poor management and intransigent labor unions also hurt the aerospace business.

We still create jobs that don’t require math and science. Leisure and hospitality, for example, generate 283,000 jobs in places like hotels and restaurants. Yet, the state Legislature refuses to back a convention center expansion or develop other coherent policies to attract new visitors.

There is a huge disconnect in Washington state between the jobs we create and the youth we educate. Today, we are filling that gap by importing talent. But we also need to think about the roles our own children will fill in this new world.

Leslie D. Helm

Editor

[email protected]