U.S. FALLS BEHIND IN WORKER RE-TRAINING

worker retraining

(SOURCE: CNN Money, 12-23-16)

The chart above shows how much countries spend on worker re-training as a percent of their GDP.

Even Chile, a country poorer than the United States, spends more on resources for its workers.

The first phase of globalization was sending jobs to other countries. But the second phase may be even more dramatic. According to CNN, the second phase of globalization will come through technology stealing jobs, or sending jobs abroad. Remote technology will allow workers from afar to clean hotel rooms, drive machinery or even perform surgery.

One of the ways that a country can protect its workers is by providing resources for training, relocation support, income support and continuing education. The U.S. has some programs like this at community colleges. But overall, the U.S. spends less money on re-training and re-educating their workers than Europe or Japan.