'Used To' Doesn't Live Here Anymore

摘要

Last week I was listening to someone in a networking group complain that he can't earn the money he used to make. I discovered he graduated from high school in the late 1970s and went to work in the steel mills around Pittsburgh. His wages peaked at $40 an hour, but the mills closed in the 1980s and he has since been trying to find work in manufacturing. He complained that every job to which he has applied requires an education and computer skills. He was proud that he had had good jobs in the past without knowing how to type, but in this economy he can't find a good job without computer skills. Welcome to the new work force! What has been clear during the past three years is that the skills required to find a job are in flux. Your skill set has changed and it will continue to change. Continuing education will be part of every job. Everyone now must know how to use a computer, and those who do not will be relegated to low-wage jobs. Without computer skills, a worker today is functionally illiterate.