National programs for job skill training are hoping to improve the skills of employees and help to keep the United States competitive in the global economy.
In 1994, the National Skills Standards Board (NSSB) was created because of a growing concern that the United States workforce was falling behind in competitiveness in the global economy. Their mission was to encourage the adoption and creation of a national system of skills standards, and to identify the required knowledge, abilities and skills needed for any individual to succeed in the workplace. By improving the skills of employees it is hoped to not only raise standards of living, but also improve the competitiveness of the United States economy. Within 5 years, projects had been completed within the following employment categories:
- Health and Human Services Transportation
- Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing
- Business and Administrative Services (including restaurants, amusement, hospitality, tourism etc)
- Construction retail trade (real estate, wholesale trade, personal services) Finance, Computers, Insurance, Information Technology
- Manufacturing, utility installation and repairs, waste management etc.
- Mining
All of these are very worthwhile and necessary jobs, needed to keep the country moving and offering good employment opportunities, and suitably trained employees can do the job so much better
At Home Vocational Learning
The boom in technology over the last few years has meant that more and more people now have their own home computers and internet access. This has opened up vocational learning to the masses, for many people who were perhaps unable to further their education because of time, geographical or monetary reasons, these stumbling blocks are not as huge as they once were.
- Time – no longer a problem. Many of these courses can be studied in your own time at your own pace, so fitting them in around other commitments is easy peasy.
- Geography – no longer a problem. You can study from almost anywhere in the world, so choose the course that’s best for you, not because the college is close to where you live.
- Money – no longer a problem. Not only are these courses usually much cheaper than attending a college in person, you can very often continue to work while you study (see #1) so you can earn while you learn.
- Children – no longer a problem (well, I don’t know, they all have their moments don’t they?) but lack of childcare doesn’t have to stop you studying, you can study at home and still keep an eye on the little darlings, or better still, put them to bed early.