特朗普强力推动学徒制，或能有效破解就业难问题

上周四，美国总统特朗普签署了一项行政命令，计划通过加倍政府对学徒项目的支出，将美国的学徒人数从目前的50万人（只占国民经济的九牛一毛）的基础上大幅提高。

有了特朗普对这个计划的大力支持，很多人都乐观地觉得，特朗普一定会显著提高国民经济中学徒的人数和质量。

特朗普的计划对企业来说是个利好消息。首先，学徒制可以在企业的劳动力构成中发挥坚实作用。成功的学徒计划需要企业围绕自己的需求去进行设计，而特朗普的这项行政命令则有助于减少对学徒项目管理的繁冗手续。它也有助于行业建立广泛的学徒标准。雇主们无疑会对这些变化做出积极回应。同时，该行政令也有助于鼓励企业采用学徒制。

这项新政还试图大幅增加学徒在经济中的数量。今年3月，Salesforce公司的CEO马克·贝尼奥夫曾给特朗普打电话，呼吁“要实现在未来5年内，创造500万个学徒岗位的‘登月目标’”。特朗普当即表示同意，并称“让我们开始干吧，为了这500万个岗位。”此次特朗普的行政令中并未包含类似的具体目标。不过如果特朗普切实履行了他对贝尼奥夫的承诺，那么这个目标不仅雄心勃勃，也是可以实现的。

按人均水平计算，500万个学徒的目标如果得以实现，就会使美国与德国和瑞士等低失业率国家和制造业强国保持一致了。这些国家尽管付给制造业工人的薪水很高，但他们通过课堂教学与在职培训相结合的形式大力推动学徒制与其他教育模式，从而还是铸造了自己强大的经济实力。

在特朗普政府公布这一计划之前，最新公布的数据显示，美国有600万个职位空缺，有690万人处于失业状态。据与我交流过的一些企业表示，职位空缺的主要原因是他们找不到具备相应工作技能的人才。而美国制造业的形势尤其严峻。据美国制造业协会统计，未来十年，美国将开放340万个制造业就业机会，但如果美国继续保持当前的职业培训水平，届时美国将有200万个制造业岗位找不到合适的人才填补。

制造业以及部分行业劳动力供需失衡的一个原因是，很多求职者包括大学生在离开学校后，身上并没有能够立即变现的技能或任何实际的工作经验。传统“知识工作”的自动化只会让这一差距继续加大。而在学徒制中，学徒可以在工作中边赚钱边学习，这与很多就业项目和纯粹的课堂教育都不一样。

在大多数情况下，这种供需失衡能在短期内获得弥补的技能都是所谓的“中级”技能，也就是高中以上学历就能掌握的技能，比如护士、医务人员、焊工、电工、机械修理员、机器人程序员、水管工、电脑技术员等等。这些人的收入和工作保障都高于平均水平。很多人的收入甚至比上过四年大学的同龄人还高。

要获取这些市场需求很高的中级技能，最具有成本效益的方法，就是通过由企业赞助的学徒项目。学徒通常需要历练三四年的时间，在训练有素的导师监督下，才能合格地学会这些新技能。学员每周有一两天需要在社区大学或职业学校参加课堂学习，但完全不需要申请大学贷款。更理想的是，学徒在学习时的同时还能赚到工资，而且绝大多数人（90%）在学徒期结束后都得到了充分就业。相比之下，又有多少读完四年本科的学生能找到心仪的工作呢？

学徒制也是一笔可靠的商业投资。加拿大最近的一项研究指出，有十几个领域的1000多家企业发现，他们每投资1美元于学徒项目，就能收获47美分的回报。政府对学徒制的支持也同样能收获回报。政府每向学徒项目投资1美元，就能产生27美元的经济增量。

这个新项目来得正是时候，美国的现代学徒制正发展得如火如荼。然而特朗普的行政命令要想取得全方位的效果，特朗普政府就需要建立一个全国性的监管机构，以确保具有可操作性的学徒制标准能被建立起来，同时确保企业切实负起责任，充分发挥学徒制对经济的积极影响。该项目有潜力满足各行各业对人才不断上升的需求，同时能使数以百万计的家庭得到经济保障。（财富中文网）

本文作者Nicholas Wyman《Job U: How to Find Wealth and Success By Developing the Skills Companies Actually Need》一书的作者，也是职场技能与创新研究会的CEO。

译者：朴成奎

On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to substantially increase the number of U.S. apprenticeships from the current 500,000 (minuscule for the size of the economy) by doubling the amount the government spends on apprenticeship programs.

Trump’s emphasis on this plan is cause for optimism that he will significantly improve the number and quality of apprenticeships in the economy.

Trump’s plan will be a boon to employers. First, they will have a strong role in its composition through a task force that Trump announced. Successful apprenticeship programs work best when designed by employers around their own needs. The plan intends to reduce red tape and overly rigid requirements for administering apprenticeship programs. It also encourages broad-based industry standards for apprenticeships. Employers will undoubtedly respond positively to these changes, and it will encourage them to embrace apprenticeships.

The new initiative also seeks to massively increase the number of apprenticeships in the economy. In March, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff called on Trump to “take a moonshot goal at creating 5 million apprenticeships in the next five years.” Trump agreed, stating “Let’s do that, let’s go for that 5 million.” The plan that Trump announced sets no such targets. But if Trump follows the commitment he made to Benioff, the goal will be ambitious, yet achievable.

On a per capita basis, 5 million apprenticeships would bring the U.S. in line with the low unemployment levels and strong manufacturing sectors in countries like Germany and Switzerland. Despite paying their workers high wages, these countries achieve their economic strength by prioritizing apprenticeships and other education models that integrate classroom learning with on-the-job training.

The Trump administration’s plan comes on the heels of newly released data indicating 6 million U.S. job vacancies, at a time when 6.9 million are unemployed. According to companies I’ve spoken to, the principal cause of job vacancies is their inability to find people with job-ready skills. The situation in U.S. manufacturing is particularly troublesome. According to the Manufacturing Institute, 3.4 million manufacturing jobs are expected to become available over the next 10 years, yet 2 million of those jobs may be unfilled if America stays on its current course.

One reason for this supply and demand imbalance in manufacturing and elsewhere is that too many job seekers, including college graduates, are leaving school without marketable skills or any practical work experience. The automation of traditional “knowledge jobs” will only exaggerate this gap. In an apprenticeship, participants are earning and learning both on and off the job. This differs from many other employment-related programs and purely classroom-based education.

In most cases, skills that could bridge the gap are of the “middle” type. This means high-school plus: nurses, medical technicians, welders, electricians, machinists, robotics programmers, plumbers, computer technicians, and dozens more. These people enjoy above-average incomes and job security. Many out-earn their peers with four-year college degrees.

The most cost-effective way to obtain such highly sought after middle skills is through a company-sponsored apprenticeship. This typically three- or four-year endeavor allows the apprentice to acquire new skills under the watchful eyes of a trained mentor. One or two days each week are dedicated to classwork at a local community college or technical school, but no college debt is accrued. Better still, apprentices earn while they learn, and most (90%) are gainfully employed by the conclusion of their apprenticeship. How many four-year college students can say the same?

Apprenticeships are sound business investments. A recent Canadian study of over 1,000 employers across more than a dozen different fields found a net return of 47 cents for every dollar invested in apprenticeship training. Even government is a winner when it supports apprenticeships. Every $1 government invests in apprenticeships generates $27 in economic growth.

This new program comes at a perfect time; modern apprenticeships are gaining steam in the U.S. For Trump’s initiative to be consistently effective across the board, however, his administration will need to create a national custodian to ensure user-friendly norms are established and businesses are held accountable for high-impact apprenticeship outcomes. The program has the potential to meet the escalating demand for job-ready candidates in all kinds of industries and enable millions of families to achieve economic security.

Nicholas Wyman is author of Job U: How to Find Wealth and Success By Developing the Skills Companies Actually Need and CEO of the Institute for Workplace Skills and Innovation.