The Top 15 Jobs Of 2015 Don’t Exist Today. Prepare for the future. Any future.
This billboard is one of several featured prominently throughout Denver International Airport. All are designed to encourage passersby not to fear the future, but to embrace it. Sponsored by the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, the message is: don’t chase today’s jobs or even try to guess at tomorrows. To thrive – not merely survive, we must develop an adaptable toolkit that works for Salida and for our global economy.
A lifelong learning toolkit includes diverse skills and aptitudes, utilizing both hand and mind. Especially in our rural economy, can we fend for ourselves by making simple household repairs, planting a garden and making meals from scratch? What about applied math and science skills? Are we fluent in more than one language? Fully literate in computer applications, networking skills and information searches? How well do we communicate both in writing and when speaking to one or many? Finally, and most importantly: are critical thinking, listening and appreciation of culture, travel and the arts a part of our world? I suggest that our school board consider these criteria when evaluating the performance of both teachers and students.
As community leaders, business people and parents open your eyes to trends in education and engage our school board in ways we can work together to deliver a first-rate education and the economic returns that brings. The Christian Science Monitor has a thought-provoking look at recent successes, myths and failures in education.
Basically, there are two choices for finding a continuum of work: 1) create our own opportunities as an entrepreneur and 2) join the tide of outsourcing (or the newest twist, “crowdsourcing”). A solid education is key to both.
How can the school board partner with county/state government agencies and local businesses to create a community cooperative model for our students, which gives them hope for meaningful job opportunities as they move through their formal education? Rather than chase after businesses with incentives to relocate to Salida, the city and schools should leverage the efforts of the Chaffee/Lake County Small Business Development Center to foster entrepreneurs to grow within our county.
As for the second choice: Crowdsourcing is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call. – Jeff Howe
In rural Chaffee County we need to wake up to this emerging, if scary, trend. (At least it’s work that can generally be done on-line which might supplement the retail and service jobs typically available here). Amazon.com has created an online marketplace for crowdsourcing called the Mechanical Turk. Anyone with a task to be completed or problem to be solved can put it up on Amazon, setting their price for completion or solution. (Being the lowest bidder for “commodity” work is not a particularly comforting choice.)
Rather than our community depending on the retail, tourism or public sectors, why not take charge of our own destiny and create what the world needs and wants? Promote “Salida Made” as the brand for things we grow or make and the inventions and knowledge capital that our students export? I challenge the school board to foster forums with the business community; to reach out to those like me who are neither retired nor who have children in the system. We have experience and ideas grounded in today’s economic realities. Together we can develop Salida’s economy by exploring new ideas to develop our most sustainable resource – Salida’s future adults.
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