Fixing the economy: Fareed Zakaria’s excellent GPS Job Special

I really liked Fareed Zakaria’s show last night about fixing the economy.  His GPS Job Special: Putting American to Work  http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/23/gps-job-special-putting-america-to-work/ was excellent.  One of the aspects of it that struck me was the emphasis in countries like Germany and Denmark in making sure people were mentored, trained and cross-trained for a lifetime in the work force.  Here in the U.S., we’ve been saying for a long time now that loyalty between company and employee has disappeared.  It’s extremely rare for an employee to spend 30 years working for one company anymore, where it used to be the norm; at the same time, it’s extremely rare for a company to shepherd employees through to a long-term commitment.

Now, as a university instructor, I try to make sure my students have enough skills in verbal and written communication that they could go just about anywhere.  But wouldn’t it be lovely if I could open doors for them by working in conjunction with employers who would give more than an internship or an entry-level job?  I know when I ran my own public relations firm how expensive it was to experience turnover and to train new people.   And I know that working in and around media means that people will keep gravitating toward the larger media markets; that’s where all the action is.  This is an understandable and accepted practice, particularly for journalists and public relations practitioners.

Still, I can’t help but stand back and admire those people who stay long enough to really know their communities in depth; who understand the local values and priorities; who have developed a particular skill at  translating the issues of the day to and from their particular audiences.   Their careers aren’t stalled; they just run deeper than most.