Some facts just don’t go over well, even if, or especially if, they’re true. Evolution springs to mind. Today’s reality check: There is a shortage of talent required for a wide range of jobs in this world. It’s not just tech jobs that are impacted — take a look at the 100,000-plus openings for skilled nurses in America.
What the job market seeks to do is establish equilibrium of supply and demand. To achieve this effect hiring managers occasionally need to cross borders in search of qualified talent. One obstacle to this utopian vision: The United States like most countries regulates the ebb and flow of talent. Though there are valid reasons for immigration policy, the higher economic laws of talent supply and demand will steadily chip away at these restrictions.
Sizing the pool of available talent is easier than assessing its aptitude or figuring out where its located. One lesson to be drawn from this year’s Nasscom study of Indian college graduates: Just because a graduate carries a degree doesn’t make them ready to succeed in the global economy. In the report, the Indian trade group, powered by Booz Allen, said about one in four grads were global ready. You're thinking that’s strictly a language issue? Somebody needs to assess our talent supply.
India projects that in the coming years it will experience an undersupply of talent in the business process outsourcing space. The recommendation here is to do a lot better job of funding universities — and tying at least some of the funding to yet-to-be invented metrics such as global-readiness.
What can global companies do about the talent shortage? How about directly funding graduate programs that will yield global-ready candidates? To push that idea out to its illogical edge, can you imagine an IBM or Google paying M.I.T. for exclusive rights to hire the top of the engineering class of 2007? They would if they could! Just as the U.S. Army helps pay tuition for soldiers who agree to serve for a set number of years, what if promising but under-funded students strike a similar deal with General Electric or, say, U.S. hospitals to pay off their student loans if they stay on for four or five years?
Arguably, by underfunding higher education, or by escalating tuition costs for students in state-run schools, governments are regulating the supply of available global-ready talent. I will think about this more as my son edges closer to college age. Do you think Genentech will send us an advance?
A quick note of thanks to the expert panelists who participated in our editorial roundtable, The Hunt for Global Talent, featuring our columnists Deborah Kops (360 Degrees); the Human Capital Institute’s Allan Schweyer and DNL Global’s Lori Blackman (The Optimizers); along with William Metz of Procter & Gamble; Bernadette Margel of Deutsche Bank; and Prof. Arie Lewin of Duke University. Their collective wisdom illuminated this month’s cover story.
It’s the end of a successful year — what’s left on your “to do” list? Oh, yes, talking to a Global Services editor … there’s still time at rweston@cmp.com
