美国年轻工人沦为注定失败的一代？
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这种令人不安的下行趋势能否改变？如果我们现在就开始致力于构建一个面向未来的战略共识的话，我相信是可以的。 教育依然是起点——这是一切解决方案的前提，但我们目前做的还远远不够。好消息是，全美上下似乎正在就扩大儿童早期教育和改造小学和中学等问题达成越来越多的共识，而且获得了可喜的进展。要想让今天的青年工人在全球舞台上竞争，所有关于“终身学习”的豪言壮语都需要变为现实。我们现在拥有做到这一点的工具。美国所有的大学和社区学院都在尝试“在线”或远程课程。同时，许多雇主抱怨说，新入职的员工不具备恰当的技能组合。 一个显而易见的解决方案是，大学、社区学院和行业领袖携起手来，共同设计课程和实际工作体验，以改善年轻工人的生产率，让他们不断学习，成长，最终获得收入更高的好工作。 但教育本身还不足以解决低迷的就业创造和工资停滞问题。 我在接下来的几篇专栏文章中还将提出其他意见和建议，比如企业不应该一门心思地把短期股东价值作为唯一的经营目标，我们需要创造全新的“下一代”劳工组织，还要设法更新雇佣政策以适应不断变化的经济和劳动力形势。其中一些建议肯定会引起争议，我非常渴望各位读者参与进来，畅谈各自的真知灼见。通过一番共同努力，我们或许会找到共同点，最终为下一代制定一份跟我们这一代人曾经享有的契约同样有效的社会契约。（财富中文网） 本文作者托马斯•科汉是麻省理工学院斯隆商学院教授，以研究劳资关系、工作和就业等问题著称。他还著有《恢复美国梦：一项面向美国工薪家庭的议事日程》一书。 译者：叶寒 |
Can this downward, disturbing trend be changed? I believe it can, if we start work now on building a consensus strategy for the future. Education is still the starting point -- a necessary but far from sufficient solution today. The good news is there appear to be a growing consensus and considerable momentum in the country to expand access to early childhood education and to reform elementary and secondary schools. For today's young workers to compete on a global stage, all the rhetoric about "life-long learning" will need to become a reality. We have the tools to do this now. Every U.S. university and community college is experimenting with "online" or distant courses. And many employers complain that new entrants don't have the right mix of skills. The obvious solution is for university, community college, and industry leaders to get together and design the coursework and the on-the-job experiences young workers need to be productive, learn, grow, and gain access to better and higher paying jobs. But education alone will not solve sluggish job creation or wage stagnation. In my upcoming columns, I'll raise other ideas and proposals, such as moving off the fixation with short-term shareholder value as the sole purpose of the firm, the need to invent new "next-generation" labor organizations, and ways to update employment policies to catch up with the changing economy and labor force. Some will be controversial, and I will invite your comments, ideas, and engagement as we go along. Together, we might just find common ground on a Social Contract that works for the next generation as effectively as the old one worked for mine. Thomas A. Kochan is a professor of industrial relations, work, and employment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management. He is author of the book,Restoring the American Dream: A Working Families' Agenda for America. |
