Closing the skills gap and creating an effective 21st Century workforce

Background Information

Closing the skills gap is of great concern to industry leaders. Aiscite Institute is one of the institutes providing workforce development workshops and as well as conducting exploratory research on the best approach to meet these needs. According to Migration Policy Institute feature analysis of an innovative international survey that tests skills needed for participation in today’s knowledge-driven world, immigrant adults in the United States lag behind their native-born counterparts in terms of literacy, problem-solving skills, and numeracy, and this affects their employability (Migration Policy Institute , 2015).

It has been reported that immigrants remain more likely to work in lower-skill occupations than U.S.-born workers. However, the share of immigrants in high-skill, non-mechanical jobs has been rising slowly in recent decades. Pew Research Center reports that the shift has been most notable in jobs where analytical skills were prioritized, such as science and math (Bennett, 2020).

Immigrants have experienced steady employment growth in many of the high-skill occupations since 1995. In 2018, about 34% of immigrants aged below 25 had a bachelor’s degree or higher, that figure is up from 22% in 1995 (Bennett, 2020; Olsen-Medina & Batalova, 2020).

Here are additional findings on the labor market skills situation in the United States;

• The United States does not have enough high-skilled workers to meet the demand for IT-related jobs, and employers are now actively seeking immigrant talent to help fill the gap (Miao, 2021).

• For every unemployed information technology or computer worker in the year 2020, there were more than seven job postings for computer-related occupations (Miao, 2021).

In Washington, immigrant unemployment was reported as follows;

• Washington — immigrant unemployment, 20 percent; native unemployment, 16 percent (Camarota, 2020).

• The principal drivers of the high unemployment rate of immigrants especially in places like Washington are lack of advanced education and lack of technical and information technology skills.

Skills requirements for the 21st-century workplace

Students’ development of 21st-century skills is needed to promote workforce preparedness and the long-term success of the U.S. economy. In an investigation of skill demand based on direct communication from employers to potential employees via 142,000 job advertisements; the four most in-demand 21st-century skills were oral and written communication, collaboration, and problem-solving (Rios, et al., 2020). In another study, time management, communications skills, and strong interpersonal skills were in the top five skills identified as very important by both employers and alumni of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (Holtzman & Kraft, 2011).

Other studies also identified the following as the skills needed for the 21st-century workforce: Integrity/honesty, technology and computer application (Aliyu & Ewugi, 2015); creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving (Laar, et al., 2020); Interpersonal skills - “Team Player,” “Effective interpersonal skills” and “Excellent oral communication”, and Intrapersonal skills - “Attention to detail,” “Reliability,” “Flexibility” and “Fast-paced environment” (Subedi, 2021); communication, problem-solving and decision-making, teamwork skills (Suarta, et al., 2017).

Hence, it is expected that the 21st-century workforce should be equipped with skills, abilities, and learning dispositions that have been identified above as required. These skills include critical thinking and problem-solving, communications and collaboration, creativity and innovation, information literacy, media literacy, and Information and communication technologies (ICT) literacy skills.

Recommendations

It is recommended that immigrants be equipped with the skills highlighted above, to enable them become more employable and fit into a globalized workforce. Some recommendations to achieve these are outlined as follows;

• Increase STEM scholarship opportunities for immigrants.

• Offer students work experience opportunities (Co-op, internships, studentships, projects, and fellowships).

• Sensitize immigrants on the need for continuous personal development.

• Immigrant-focused non-profit organizations should work on capacity building and skill acquisition programs focused on identified soft skills as well as analytics skills.

• Introduce more social activities (such as volunteering, community engagement, charity outreach) to keep the youth engaged and productive.

References

Aliyu, M. & Ewugi, A. M., 2015. The Employability Competencies Needed by Educational Technology Teachers’ for Effective Teaching and Learning in the 21ST Century Workforce. IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME), 5(2), pp. 17-22.

Bennett, J., 2020. The share of immigrant workers in high-skill jobs is rising in the U.S.. [Online] Available at: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/02/24/the-share-of-immigrant-workers-in-high-skill-jobs-is-rising-in-the-u-s/ [Accessed 4 December 2021].

Camarota, S. A., 2020. State Unemployment Rates for Immigrants. [Online] Available at: https://cis.org/Camarota/State-Unemployment-Rates-Immigrants [Accessed 4 December 2021].

Holtzman, D. M. & Kraft, E. M., 2011. Skills needed in the 21st century workplace: A comparison of feedback from undergraduate business alumni and employers with a national study. Business Education & Accreditation. 3(1), pp. 61-76.

Laar, E. v., Deursen, A. J. A. M. v., Dijk, J. A. G. M. v. & Haan, J. d., 2020. Determinants of 21st-Century Skills and 21st-Century Digital Skills for Workers: A Systematic Literature Review. Sage Journals, Volume 1.

Miao, H., 2021. Facing shortage of high-skilled workers, employers are seeking more immigrant talent, study finds. [Online] Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/10/study-employers-seek-immigrants-amid-shortage-of-high-skilled-workers.html [Accessed 4 December 2021].

Migration Policy Institute, 2015. Does Immigrant Skills Gap Exist in U.S.? Report Finds Immigrants Score Below U.S. Born in Literacy & Numeracy – Even as U.S. Adults Overall Lag OECD. [Online] Available at: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/does-immigrant-skills-gap-exist-us-report-finds-immigrants-score-below-us-born-literacy [Accessed 2 December 2021].

Olsen-Medina, K. & Batalova, J., 2020. College-Educated Immigrants in the United States. [Online] Available at: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/college-educated-immigrants-united-states-2018 [Accessed 2 December 2021].

Rios, J. A. et al., 2020. Identifying Critical 21st Century Skills for Workplace Success: A Content Analysis of Job Advertisements. Educational Researcher, 49(2), pp. 80-89.

Suarta, I., Suwintana, K., Sudhana, I. G. P. F. P. & Hariyanti, N. K. D., 2017. Employability skills required by the 21st-century workplace: a literature review of labour market demand. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 102(1), pp. 337-342.

Subedi, J., 2021. Demand of 21st Century Skills in the Construction Workforce. EPiC Series in Built Environment, Volume 2, p. 73–81.