Skill and Society

One of the oddest things about the current recession is the “skill shortage” which makes so many managers irascible and baffles so many commentators and politicians; it baffles especially the ones who are accustomed to talk about the traditional talent and ingenuity of the people. Besides, if every person trained in a skill were exercising it for, say, 30 hours a week there would be super abundance. Some are promoted, some walk away, some hang about. Looking for work (whether you are “in work” or not) is far more time‐consuming than doing a good job. The nature of the problem lies deeper than statistics by category. Our society seems to set a high value on skill of one kind or another, but a low value on people who acquire it and define themselves by it. It is much easier to moralise than to peel away the layers of complication to uncover more appropriate simplifications that have some practical value.