Author: Unemployment An Issue Because People Train For Wrong Jobs
By John Ostapkovich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Unemployment remains a stubborn problem and the head of a high tech staffing firm says one reason is too many of us train for the wrong jobs.
Cash Nickerson, President of PDS Tech, says the country is on the edge of a huge shortage of engineers, with an entire generation to retire and too few in the pipeline.
In Stag Nation: Understanding the New Normal in Employment, he calls for less government involvement in some areas, like Obamacare, and more in encouraging students to study what's likely to get them a job.
"I think it's unconscionable that we loan people $26,000 and give them a degree and then they walk into this current market, or if they go to graduate school, law school, whatever, it could be $100,000. We won't let them buy a Hostess Hoho without a warning label but spend a $100,000 and wonder how to pay it back with no awareness, I think that's just wrong," says Nickerson.
He advocates the weighting of college loans, so someone might be able to borrow more for less to become an engineer.