Being Unwilling to Train Employees is Not a Skilled Worker Shortage

What Ryan Chittum says:

What’s going on here? The Post writes that the laid-off workers don’t know how to operate newfangled machinery and that Baby Boomers are retiring but younger generations “have avoided the manufacturing sector because of the volatility and stigma of factory work, as well as perceptions that U.S. manufacturing is a ‘dying industry.’”

I have another way to put that: These young folks don’t want to spend a lot of money and time training to do a specific job they might not get only to get laid off when some private-equity slicks (where the real money’s at) buy out the company and ship the jobs to China.

That’s what happens when owners and management have shredded the social contract. They find workers can’t or won’t do what they need them to. A flexible workforce has its downsides too.

This entire spate of stories about employers being unable to find qualified workers is crap.

What they really mean is that they cannot find people who need no training and are willing to work at slave wages, but that does not sell papers.