- by Bill Moses

We are hearing a lot lately about the looming skilled worker crisis. The mantra is "Skilled workers will soon be retiring and there is no one to replace them." One solution being put forward is to encourage these skilled workers not to retire. "You will be happier and live longer!"

It used to be that a company would "bring along" young people to replace valued employees. Nowadays if you "bring along" a young person chances are that they will "move on to greener pastures". This means there has to be another way to "bring people along".

Sometimes though there is not enough time to get local people up to speed but fortunately there is a huge supply of skilled people in other countries who are willing to lend a hand. A good example of this is that there once was a shortage of trained police officers across Canada. The solution was to recruit them from England. Minimal cost to train them and so problem solved. Since that time I would guess that Canada has ramped up police training. This points out that it is important to anticipate future needs.

The classic case here is the 400 year old cathedral in England that needed some timbers replaced. It was decided to check with the Royal Forest to see what was available. The manager there said, "Oh yes, it was passed along when I took the job that someday you would show up looking for replacement timbers. In fact at the time the cathedral was built we planted trees for that purpose. When do you want them?"

The real problem nowadays is that it has become almost impossible to anticipate future needs. Another problem is that our democratic method of governing is based more on the grasshopper philosophy than that of the ant. So, where does that leave us.

I think that we would have to agree that any economy requires a range of skill sets and also that, as we move along, the range of required skill sets is becoming more complicated and thus more training is required to attain them. As well some people are more easily able to acquire those skill sets than others. So, "Train the best and forget the rest?" This makes economic sense but not social sense.

One solution would be to untie a basic income from paid employment. Another solution would be to develop an economy suited to the skill sets of the workers. (I am sure that the Amish, for example, can find a job for everybody.)

Finally, there is a story about an allied soldier who somehow went missing and remained in East Germany after the war. He stayed there for about 40 years and then came home. People said that it must have been awful living there. He said, "Not really. You went to an office and were assigned a job and an apartment." I am sure that for many people in Canada this would be a step up.