LiveWorld Transcripts

American Express presents

Todd McCracken, President of National Small Business United and Larry Pearlman, Chairman of the 21st Century Workforce Commission
Challenges Facing Small Businesses Today

June 27, 2000

American Express Voices presents Todd McCracken, President of National Small Business United and Larry Pearlman, Chairman of the 21st Century Workforce Commission who discuss small business owners, entrepreneurs, technology, and finances.

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AmexVoices: According to many scholars, the 21st Century formally begins Jan. 1, 2001. But according to a recently released Voices from Main Street survey, small business owners are still facing the need to improve the skills of a 20th Century workforce. The basic building blocks of interpersonal skills, as well as verbal and written communications, are listed as the number one requirements for small companies, according to this study. But no one can deny that there also is a great need to focus on the computer and technology expertise the New Economy will demand in the next Millennium. We have with us tonight, Todd McCracken, President of National Small Business United, and Larry Pearlman, Chairman of the 21st Century Workforce Commission, a group formed by Congress to study this country's labor force and best practices for improving the necessary skill sets. Welcome, gentlemen.

Larry Pearlman: I'm going to take a few moments to describe the 2lst Century Workforce Commission and what it concluded.It reported to Congress and the President today. It was established by Congress to take a snapshot of the nation's information technology workforce. This has 17 members appointed by congressional leaders and the President and it was charged with recommending to the President and Congress how best to ensure that American workers have the opportunity to prepare for the information technology jobs today and tomorrow. It sought information on 3 issues - first, the knowledge and skills necessary for IT employment. Second, the strategies for expanding the number of qualified IT workers; and third, best practices and policies related to information technology education and training. The commission concluded that there is going to be a fundamental shift in the skills needed for workers to succeed in the 21st Century and that one of the consequences of the 'digital revolution' is that skilled human capital will be the most critical component of our nation's economy going forward. Today, the demand for skilled workers exceeds supply. By 2006, nearly half of all U.S. workers will be employed in industries that produce or intensively use information technology products and services. Taking a narrow definition of an IT worker - that is, someone who designs, builds or maintains an information technology infrastructure that businesses and consumers use - we will need about 200,000 new IT workers every year for the foreseeable future in the United States. And at the same time an increasing percentage of the workforce, while not technically IT workers, will be working in technology-enabled factory jobs, as auto mechanics, health care workers - all will need some degree of digital literacy. Our concern is that our nation will struggle to meet these needs because too many people are entering the U.S.workforce with poor basic academic and workforce skills. We made a number of recommendations. Nine of them. I won't go through all of them now. I will merely say that we concluded that the current and future health of America's 21st Century economy depends on whether Americans can reach a new level of '21st Century literacy', consisting of strong academic skills, thinking, reasoning, teamwork skills, and proficiency in using technology. Two of our nine keys for success that I will note were that we said that the education system needs really to change so that American high schools strengthen their connections with community colleges and technical schools and the workplace, so that students are motivated and have a better approach to work. Second of the nine recommendations that I would note is our emphasis on expanding lifelong learning; that Americans in the 21st Century workplace will need to continuously upgrade their skills and knowledge as new technologies and work patterns merge.

Todd McCracken: National Small Business United represents the broad interests of the small business community and every survey that we have done within our organization, as well as those conducted by American Express and the Voices from Main Street activity, show that the clear, biggest challenge of all small businesses is their ability to keep and retain qualified workers. And to compound matters, a report we conducted in conjunction with American Express and IBM earlier this year, called "The Future of Small Business," suggests that these trends will only be exasgerbated in the future. The only logical solution to this workforce crunch are education and immigration.

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