We'd like the world to be better. How do we expect it to happen? Some of us pin our hopes on the government, charities, and volunteers. Here, let's suggest that we can demand more of businesses to make the world better.

"Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." ~Margaret Mead

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Retraining our workforce

The first comment posted on this site was this:

Vanisher said...
Businesses in sectors where labor is moving to lower cost overseas countries, such as manufacturing, should contribute to the job retraining of the workforce they are laying off.

June 23, 2009 5:20 AM

This strikes me as a very interesting issue, and I'm sure I don't know the half of it. Does anyone have any indication of how impactful the loss of jobs will be over the next 5, 10, 20 years?

I imagine this phenomenon will have a profound effect on many families, communities, and industries in the U.S. Vanisher is suggesting that businesses should bear some of this cost by 'contributing to the job retraining of the workforce they are laying off'. Does anybody have any idea how should such a program might work?
Posted by Scott at 7:48 AM
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2 comments:

  1. Levy a tax on companies that lay people off. The tax will pay for a private sector company who bids to retrain a workforce.

    While it could be argued that this tax will force companies to lay off additional employees, the company will still be seeing great financial benefit from the reduction in force.

    Additionally, i would argue that a program which retrains workers for new jobs could be a net positive for the collective economy over the long term.

    ReplyDelete

  2. Could this problem be addressed without taxation or government action?

    ReplyDelete

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