WebEx: Ideas in Motion

Three Hot Ideas to Bridge the Gen Gap and Keep Older Americans Working!

When Obama announced his huge plans for having a trained work force in America last week, we asked our visitors to tell us their ideas for improving the job market. One set of ideas focused on the challenges facing older workers who face some unique challenges in finding new work.

According to a Voice of America article, “With U.S. unemployment at a 25 year high, older workers say it's becoming increasingly difficult to compete for jobs against younger counterparts. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says workers ages 45 and above are staying unemployed longer, about 22 weeks compared to 16 weeks for younger workers. Although many of the so called "baby boomers," [born between 1946 and 1964] are now in the prime of their careers, many have to confront age bias in a dismal job market.”

In Washington State, they are finding “State projections show that 15,000 students will enroll in Washington’s community college retraining programs starting this fall, more than double the head count from two years ago. Two out of three students getting retraining in have already turned 35,” says an article in HeraldNet.

So what can be done?

Here are some good ideas from the WebEx community – ideas that change the way we might think about our “older” workforce.

Idea #1: Create a Senior Academy
Ed Wurster of Voorhees, USA, suggests rewarding companies for retaining senior workers as company instructors, who pass on valuable skills to younger workers and teach the unemployed. (Comment on Ed’s idea here).

Idea #2: Create a plan for senior workers that allows for them to “modify” their jobs rather than face layoffs.
Rococo from Campbell, California thinks we shouldn’t layoff senior workers – what a mistake – we should develop a system that moves them to a position that allows them to transfer knowledge, train new employees and add value. This should include honest discussions of salary. If a senior worker is “expensive” but incredibly capable, it is crazy to fire that person to save money. Businesses need to think about ways to renegotiate their employment agreements and use older workers to help their companies succeed. (Comment on Rococo’s idea here.)

Idea #3: Get generations to work together to learn new skills.
SantaCruzMom from Santa Cruz, California says the older generations know the basic principles of business but less about technology, the web and social media. The younger generation understands all the tools but don’t understand business. Bring the generations together to get them to collaborate and work together to train one another. (Comment on SantaCruzMom’s idea here.)

It’s not too late to share your ideas with us.

We are working to share them with the Obama Administration as well and leaders in the community who are looking for ways to create new jobs and revitalize our economy. We are also inviting guests to speak on the topic. If you know someone who would like to lead a discussion on older workers, retraining or something similar, please reply (via commenting) to this blog.

Obama: "Cisco...Working With Community Colleges" on Job Training

On Tuesday, July 14th, President Obama announced his $12 billion American Graduation Initiative (fact sheet here) that focuses on using our community colleges to educate (and reeducate) workers for our future.

During his talk, he referred to Cisco as an example of a company partnering with schools to deliver programs that will train workers for new jobs. Here's a snippet from that speech.

If you are interested in learning more about the Cisco program, visit this site.

And if you have ideas for the President, corporations or others about what they can do to help train people, share your ideas with us. We want to hear from you.

If you don't have an idea but what to know what others are thinking, check this out. You can rate, comment or share the ideas you see there.

Putting Americans Back to Work: Do You Have the Answer? Tell Us...

Being out of work totally sucks. I know. I have been there.

My whole team was laid off in 1998 and we were completely caught off guard. There was no economic decline and the dot-com bust was still two years away. But it still hurt. No matter when it happens, looking for work is hard.

Interestingly, one of the most powerful ways we motivated ourselves was getting together – our group of laid off people – and coming up with ideas about how to move forward. Many times our ideas didn’t work for us, but they were perfect for someone else. When we shared our ideas, they simply got better.

It’s time to share your ideas.

If you are out of work, we want you to tell us what needs to change to help you find work.

If you are in a job you hate but know changing jobs right now is not possible, we want your ideas about how your company could make things better so you could be a better contributor.

If you are working and happy but share the burden of having a friend or family member who is out of work, we want to know what you think can be done to make their search easier.

The President’s taking action, so can you.

In his speech yesterday, Barak Obama said, “My job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines and harp and gripe.” We think the same goes for all of us.

In these times, we all have to pull together to help one another. We will be sharing your ideas with people who can make change happen. We want to see what you have to say – both your ideas and your comments on the ideas that are already posted – and we will be working to make change on your behalf.

And for every idea you share with us, you will also be “doing good.” We are making a contribution to Teachers Without Borders when people share, rate or comment on ideas at PasstheBall.com.

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Looking for Work: Cisco Networking Academy Job Training Program

Yesterday, President Obama referred to high tech training programs to help retrain the workforce. Here’s the scoop: the program is designed to upgrade skills and create new job opportunities and will focus on broadband, network security and health care IT training. See the press release here.

Obama's Town Hall Meeting Kicks Off Ideas for New Jobs

 

As you listen to President Obama talk today about job retraining at today's Town Hall Meeting in Warren, Michigan, that just the beginning of the discussion.

Your ideas matter and as part of the effort to get people working again in Michigan, we want to know your ideas that will help you get back to work. Then, we will be sharing this information with the Whitehouse to keep the ball rolling. So tell us what you think about...

What you need to get back to work?

What's the best way to retrain Amercia's workforce?

What kind of innovation could make change happen faster?

What kinds of jobs should be created first?

And more...

If you don't have an idea, that's okay - come look at what others are posting and add your comments. Or simply rate what's there.

We all need to work together to create change. It starts with sharing our ideas - that's the first step to making them better.

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About the Cisco Networking Academy Job Training Program
The program is designed to upgrade skills and create new job opportunities and will focus on broadband, network security and healthcare IT training. See the press release here.