Upskilling the American Labor Force During a Time of Duress

Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime.  One of the startling statistics which made rounds across the internet in early May was concerning the disparity between the unemployment rates for tech workers and the general population. Between the months of January and April in 2020, the general unemployment rate skyrocketed from 3.6% to 14.7%. During that same period, the unemployment rate for tech workers fell from 3% to 2.8%. Undoubtedly, firms eager to hire cheaper high-skilled labor snapped up workers with reduced bargaining power. …...