请为年轻人重新打开就业大门
Most of the leaders with whom I work as a management consultant are a level-headed lot. They rarely let their personal feelings interfere with business decisions.
作为一位管理咨询顾问，我接触过的大多数领导者都非常清醒。他们很少让自己的切身感受干预商业决定。But recently, I've noticed some executives becoming irritated, even angry, when I tell them how important it is for companies to hire and train high-potential young people just out of school. Their emotions, I soon discover, often relate to disappointments they have experienced with their own children or grandchildren.
但最近，当我告诉一些高管，聘请和培养刚刚走出校园、大有潜力的年轻人，这对他们的公司非常重要的时候，我发现他们变得非常烦躁，甚至异常愤怒。我很快就发现，这种情绪往往跟一个事实有关——这些高管自己的子女或孙辈曾经让他们非常失望。These executives will tell me things like, "When I was my grandson's age, I started at the bottom and worked my way up; he's not willing to do that.” Or, "My daughter majored in philosophy, of all things — how will that get her anywhere?" If they don't have a personal anecdote about their own families to relate, they may remark that too many young people are entitled and self-absorbed.
这些高管告诉我一些类似这样的事情，“当我像我孙子这般年纪的时候，我已经从最底层做起，开始依靠自身努力，踏上平步青云之路了；他不愿意这样做。”或者，“有那么多好选的，我女儿偏偏选择主修哲学专业，学这玩意有什么前途？”如果他们在自己的家庭中没有经历过这些事情，他们或许会说，现在有太多的年轻人拥有这样那样的权利，他们只关心自己的利益。
The general message from these leaders is this: More young people would be hired if they had the right qualifications, but too few have the skills and discipline needed to succeed in today's demanding workplace.
这些领导者大体上传达了这样的讯息：如果拥有合适的资格，更多的年轻人就不愁找不到工作，但现如今，几乎没有多少年轻人具备在要求苛刻的职场获得成功所需的技能和纪律性。Over the last few years, I've interviewed more than 200 young people from diverse backgrounds of income, education, race and geography. About half told me that they had liberal arts degrees, and I was struck by how many of them regretted majoring in a discipline now seen as impractical.
在过去几年里，我跟200多位不同收入、教育程度、种族和地域背景的年轻人进行过面谈。其中大约一半人告诉我，他们拥有文科学位。让我感到震惊的是，许多人非常后悔当初主修了一门现在被视为不实用的学科。Many liberal-arts graduates say they are eager to find an employer willing to train them in skills that don't require a degree in engineering or computer science. They cite six-sigma analysis, supply-chain procedures, customer service, inventory control, quality assurance and Internet marketing. They want a chance to master one of those skills.
很多文科毕业生说，他们渴望找到一位雇主对他们进行一些不需要有工程或计算机科学学位的技能培训，比如六西格玛分析、供应链流程、客户服务、库存控制、质量保证和网络营销。他们希望获得一个掌握其中一项技能的机会。But their pleas appear unlikely to be answered. Most corporate training today is directed at employees who arrive with technical skills already developed — if not through their college degrees, then though specialized internships.
但他们的请求似乎不太可能得到响应。现在的企业培训对象基本上都是就职时已经掌握技术技能的员工——这些技能如果不是在大学学的，那就是通过专业实习获得的。This puts a large swath of young people at a disadvantage. Burdened with tuition debt, many college graduates from low- and middle-income families can't afford to serve a low-paying or unpaid internship.
这使得一大批年轻人处于劣势。由于背负着沉重的学费债务，许多来自中低收入家庭的大学毕业生负担不起从事低薪或无薪实习工作。I've been consulting for more than four decades. Twenty or 30 years ago, a hiring manager at a Fortune 500 company was much more willing to give, say, a dance major a chance. That manager would realize that such graduates were good at teamwork, acquiring new skills and practicing for long hours. Give them some corporate training and they become productive employees, was the thinking.
我已经做了40多年的咨询工作。二三十年前，一家《财富》500强(Fortune 500)公司的招聘经理更愿意给文科毕业生（比如舞蹈专业）一个机会。这位经理会意识到，这类毕业生善于团队合作，获得新技能，以及长时间实践。当时的高管普遍认为，让这些毕业生接受一些培训，他们就可以成为工作高效的员工。Now, because of a relentless focus on specialized skills, too many young people are missing out on a rite of passage: getting to a job on time, learning a craft, assuming responsibility, bringing home a paycheck. The unemployment rate for people age 20 to 24 is 11 percent, compared with an overall rate that is under 7 percent.
现在，由于企业界毫不留情地看重专业化技能，有太多年轻人正在错失成年礼：及时获得一份工作，学会一门手艺，承担起责任，带薪水回家。20岁至24岁年轻人目前的失业率为11%，而美国的总失业率在7%以下。It's not that they aren't trying to find work. One problem is that young people are competing both with their peers and with experienced applicants willing to accept entry-level salaries.
这并不是说他们没有努力找工作。一个问题是，年轻人的竞争对手不仅仅是同龄人，还包括那些愿意接受入门级薪酬的有工作经验的求职者。Financially struggling boomers fill many of the jobs that young people once assumed would be theirs. And according to a recent poll, nearly half of workers 50 and older expect to retire later than they had previously thought.
经济困难的婴儿潮一代填充了年轻人曾经认为属于他们的许多工作岗位。最近的一项民意调查显示，近一半50岁以上工人预期将推迟原本计划的退休年龄。Rather than waiting for educational institutions or the government to bridge this generation gap, employers should consider accepting some responsibility for introducing young people into the work force. This could be the perfect time for companies to start pilot projects that enroll unskilled but promising people in corporate training programs.
雇主不应该坐等教育机构或政府来弥补这种代沟，而应该考虑主动承担起一些责任，帮助更多年轻人成为劳动大军的一员。对于公司来说，现在是启动试点项目，招收缺乏熟练技术，但极具潜质的年轻人参加企业培训计划的绝佳时机。And let's not forget about people without college degrees, who make up more than two-thirds of the adult population. Employers can help young people who have either dropped out of college or have attended only high school, by offering apprentice programs in high-demand skills.
此外，我们也不要忘记那些没有大学学位的人——这一群体占成年人总人口的三分之二以上。雇主可以提供高需求技能的学徒计划，以帮助那些从大学辍学或者只上过高中的年轻人。Hiring managers who look beyond narrowly focused credentials might uncover something even more important: energetic workers who are determined to make a mark and help their companies succeed. And businesses that gain reputations for preparing young people to become productive employees are likely to have a competitive advantage as the economy recovers and older workers can afford to retire.
视野不局限于资历证书的招聘经理或许会有更重大的发现：一群精力充沛，决心干出一番事业，帮助公司获得成功的员工。随着经济逐渐复苏，老年员工能够没有顾虑地退休，那些因帮助年轻人成为高效率员工而获得声誉的企业很可能将获得竞争优势。More hiring managers must be willing to take a risk on people whose careers have stalled because they majored in an "impractical" discipline. Bottom lines will not suffer — and might even improve — if companies provide opportunity to a population hungry to prove its value.
现在必须有更多招聘经理愿意冒险雇佣那些因专业“不实用”而导致职业生涯陷入停滞的年轻人。如果公司为这样一个渴望证明其价值的群体提供机会，其营业收入不仅不会缩水，兴许还能有所改善。
