Income Gap

In an article today in the Tallahassee Democrat:
http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2015/01/29/income-gap-alive-florida/22556395/
the income gap is looked at and searching for reasons why.

Business these days are complaining to the workforce system that they cannot find the talent they need to fill their open positions. On the talent pipeline side we have more than enough people searching for opportunities in the job market. So why the disconnect?

One reason is that the younger generation lacks the basic soft skills or knowledge of the basic expectations of business that you show up on time, don't take lots of days off, focus on the work and not on your Facebook and Twitter accounts during the business day, and dress appropriately for the job.  To the older generation, this seems a no-brainer. Yet the problem seems to be growing.

Second issue we in workforce hear is that although the people have the diploma or degree that is required by the job description, when they come to work, their writing skills and communication skill are so poor that its embarrassing to their co-workers. There is a certain business etiquette expectation to email correspondence, letter and verbal communications in the business world that is not understood by many of the newly graduated job seekers.

Third, from a social justice point of view, the disparity between the lowest paid worker and the business leadership have mushroomed to a point, in my view, to be obscene. I mean how long are we going to accept that coaches get $50 million dollars in a contract that the students pay for in their tuition? How can a president of a bank earn $13 million per year after allowing billions of dollars of saved wealth by the baby boomers evaporate in high stakes gambling by his firm and no penalty for this behavior?

There needs to be a lot of re-adjustments in this system if it is going to survive. America is blessed with an abundance of talent. We need to honor that talent and ensure it is job ready when the formal education is complete and a certification earned.