ashe

I was at a meeting of employers in the Johnson city area and they were debating the different degrees needed for the jobs that were available. One thing that an engineer said always stuck in my mind. During the debate many employers were asking for specific job skills for their discipline to be offered. This man stood up and said "You teach them the math, science, and communication skills, we can train them to do what ever we need."

"U.S. job openings surged to a record high in July, but a lag in hiring suggested employers were struggling to find qualified workers to fill the positions."

Your government theory sounds a bit like a conspiracy. The drive for more degrees is more innocent than that. The booming middle class that came out of WWII wanted better lives for their children and started a move to send their kids to college. Then universities grew into businesses and helped push the idea that just a BA isn't enough.

When your grandfather worked in the mailroom, things were very different. Manufacturing was low tech, and the job of management was pretty simple. But since then, machinery has become very high tech, and things like management and business have become sciences. Some of this for the better, and some of this creates stupid glut and waste in an attempt to save a few cents.

There is one particular manufacturer that I regularly deal with and, on different occasions have been asked to consult with them and review some of their products. On one occasion I had lunch with one of their product line managers. During our conversation I learn his degree was in chemistry, and his previous job had been making golf balls for a major company. When he was hired by the current company, he knew nothing about the product he was put in charge of or the industry it was built for. On another occasion with a company, during a dinner with a big group of their people those of use brought in for the review, I was seated across from this beautiful petite Nordic princess from the Land of Lakes. She had been With the company for 3 weeks, again, she was a product line manager. Thinking better at the time, I decided to not question her qualifications. But about halfway through the meal, I catch the conversation between her and the guy next to her discussing her products. He is trying to explain a problem that could be fixed with a very simple solution. She didn't even have a clue how her products work. I looked at her boss next to me and asked how she was supposed to do her job and his reply was, "oh, we will get her up to speed". But I realized the reality is, she will never actually work with the products in a field setting to understand how they really work.

So, I fall in the middle of this argument. Education is the most important resource we have. In fact, our university system is the advantage we have over the rest of the world. We have the ability to create a new economic system based on training the doctors and engineers for the rest of the world. But at times, we definitely seem to educate many beyond their abilities, then turn them loose on the corporate world to try to prove their value.

Many experts are predicting that the school loan bubble will be the next collapse. i have wondered if this will be what may cut some waste and bring back the trade schools and junior colleges.

Businesses look for degrees because the Government pressures job services to require them (after all the government controls the public job services like ncworks). My grandfather started in the mail room of Hanes and became plant manager in time. Today they hire someone outside a company that knows almost nothing about the company just because they have a piece of paper. Most degrees are not worth the paper they are printed on. If you are in a STEM field then yes advanced degrees are needed, but most other jobs don't really need them. The government though has a monopoly on giving you student loans, and they control 90+% of the higher education schools. They also prevent you from bankrupting on student debt. It's just a circle to feed the government because of all the things the government runs student loans is the only one that actually makes money. I've seen far to many college graduates that didn't even have basic employment skills.

Fins, I can get some info yes.

Mecklenburg County has a median income of 55,961. Unfortunately I don't see a breakdown for it by age groups like the rural counties. It has a cost of living index of 96.7 (This surprises me but that's the statistics). Has the highest crime index in North Carolina, a good bit higher than the average for the USA.

Wake County has a median income of 65,826. Again I don't see it broke down by age group though like the rural counties are. It has a cost of living index of 104.40. Is higher than the average for the USA in crime but not as much as Mecklenburg.

The landing strip has been there for how long now? And we are paying for drainage? What a total waste of money. New lights for how many landings at night??? One a month maybe?

New lights and drainage would stretch it out. Dang, that's a lot of money down the drainage. Probably more than enough to say... pave a parking lot for a new school.

It would seem if the landing strip was so unimportant that it could be shut down for 2 months then its a total waste to even have it.

Mill all asphalt off runway , taxi area, and storage area. New lighting. Drainage. Repave.

No work on road to airport.

Two months for repaving a road that has no traffic? What the heck are they going to do, carry the asphalt in five gallon buckets by hand from the plant?

Airport closed Monday for 60 days. Resurfacing

From my view point, no matter how much you disagree or complain. The fact remains the same, there will always be money going to the airport. Whether you like it or not...

Or dump millions on a landing strip.

They would support dropping a wad on a football field rather than school books and computers.

They don't need education. They just need to play high school football

We can compare statistics. There is not one statistic that can measure these issues. Each county has its own unique situation. However there is one that I don't think sinks in. 27.7% of all kids under the age of 18 in Ashe county live in poverty. These kids are lucky to get through high school and well we know these are the ones that enter the workforce without the skills needed. I am sure many of these already have kids by the age of 18-20 so the cycle repeats itself.

Yet the idiot mouth breathers were told if the work force of this county cant read and write (just an example) why would a company want to come in and open up business if they cant find trained employees. They just let the county down by not expanding wcc. It would have paid for itself. The four lane is going to open the eyes of potential business and WJ is going to grow. Right or wrong its going to happen.

Dog mentioned GE. I think they are able to fill the jobs but they turn a majority of the people away because they lack the knowledge and basic skills to do the job. Most can't get through the interview process. You are right a degree does not mean you can do the job, but it is a way of marketing yourself. A blank resume is going to get you nowhere.

We all know your insistence that education is useless. However employers say otherwise. Just look at the numbers below and defend that you don't need a degree or should not get a degree. the first number is unemployment rate and the second is average weekly wages. All for the year 2015. Numbers are from the Department of Labor.

Jr, can you easily get the data on Charlotte and Raleigh?