Editorial March 20, 1995 Issue

Opportunities for a work force in transition

Russ Gerber

We've grown accustomed to the terms blue-collar and white-collar jobs. It's now said that we should consider a new category—no-collar jobs. That's how one business executive refers to the kind of jobs emerging in an age of information technology. Unfortunately, many workers today, both new and experienced, aren't adequately prepared for the effect this wave of technology—in addition to other factors—is having on traditional jobs.

Lawrence Perlman, chairman of the Business Roundtable's Working Group on Workforce Training and Development, says that for many people in the United States, being willing and able to work is no longer enough to get or to keep a job. Perlman says, "Technology shifts, defense conversion, corporate downsizing to improve productivity, and foreign competition are dislocating millions of workers" (The Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 20, 1994).

As the Monitor stated in a recent editorial, the solution for these workers isn't a mystery. Education and technical training (or retraining) are the key. Yet for many people, the idea of learning something entirely new, or of expanding on basic skills that have proved sufficient for many years, may be something that they feel reluctant or unable to do. It might seem as though it's just too late to start again. Perhaps there's a feeling of inadequacy, a concern about competitiveness, or a fear of failure. Whatever the case, the Monitor makes this important point: "The marketplace challenge need not be a threat" (Dec. 5, 1994).

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