We know that there is a critical shortage of skilled workers in North America. Employers are looking to fill jobs but cannot find qualified candidates in the existing recruitment pool. At the same time courses like Liberal Arts and other programs produce graduates that are completely disassociated from the immediate needs that are desired by employers and could benefit their businesses and the economy immediately. These same graduates enter the workforce with no prospects for employment and are draining the economy instead of growing it.
The culture of how and what we educate students in needs to be changed immediately. Trade schools can be created that teach kids of high school age and above how to immediately start mastering skills that are desired in the skilled trade workforce. From plumbing to welding to Millwriting to mechatronics. These children (who may have dropped out of high school) could start earning a living and attending trade school immediately and start becoming productive contributors to the economy. Many skilled trade positions do not require a high school education. Let’s incentivize those kids that have traditionally fallen through the cracks to find their purpose in life and be valued contributors to the economy.
At the same time the federal government would reach out and survey manufacturing and Skilled Trade employers to find out specifically what types of candidates they are looking for. Then we need to create a profile of the ideal set of skills that these candidates would need and what courses, programs or apprenticeships would provide them with these skills.
With that profile we can create aptitude and psychological tests that will find these candidates in the general population.
Employers are given access to the results of these tests and begin recruiting these candidates to enter the workforce. Their schooling is paid for based on scholarships that are tied to their scores on the testing. From 20% to 100% scholarships. There are no restrictions on who can apply. Students or employers would be responsible for paying the balance of the costs.
Employers also have the option of sponsoring candidates and paying for their school in exchange for a 5-10 year employment contract with the candidate. It’s a win win where the candidate is trained for free while learning the trade and the employer has a valuable contributor to their business for 5-10 years.
Scholarships can be funded by increasing the cost of non skilled trade programs at Colleges and Universities. If students really want to attend those programs they are free to do so, but a percentage of their tuition will subsidies the valuable training that will need to be done to evolve the talent pool available domestically to employers so their business can growth and thrive.