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Mike Rowe Discusses American Job And The 'Skills Gap'

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Television host Mike Rowe spoke with Dom Giordano on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about the current job market in the country, saying there is employment out there if people are willing to find them and take the time to acquire the requisite skills.

 

"The skills gap is a real thing and not a lot of people know about it, but it's preceded by something that I call a will gap. That's something that many people don't like to talk about because it almost immediately makes the topic political. What I mean is, the skills gap is clear. There are 5.6 million jobs available right now, 75 percent of which do not require a four year degree, but rather some sort of meaningful training. We don't talk about those opportunities in the same way we talk about the people who are unemployed."

Rowe also warned about discouraging people from taking work considered unworthy or beneath them.

"When you start removing the rungs from your own personal ladder...and if we start doing that for kids all over the country by saying let's get rid of these jobs, lets get rid of these jobs, no one wants those jobs, those are bad jobs. You start getting rid of all the bad jobs and you start arbitrarily waging the wage for those 'bad jobs' and you're going to encourage automation and robotics and an even more accelerated rate. You're going to disincentivize employers for keeping those opportunities in the mix and you're going to know a dozen rungs off the ladder."

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