Addressing the Skills Gap in Latin America hosted by America Society/Council of the Americas

Rachel Slaiman

May 17, 2013

Having many skills that are marketable in today’s workforce are critical for moving up the corporate ladder. Some people are very privileged and have the opportunity to get special attention and learn new skills at an early age through special school programs. Others unfortunately, learn valuable skills later in life or may not learn them at all and putting a detriment on their ability to gain work experience. Everyone who wants to learn, will learn and grow as an individual. Though what are today’s leaders doing to help bridge the gap of skills so that both men and women can go to work with the know-how of today?

A presentation hosted by the America Society/Council of Americas addressed the issues of human resource development, student exchanges, labor reform, education and training. An interesting topic that was addressed are the skills in most demand globally. These skills including language (English speaking ability), consistency of content (what is being taught) throughout the education system and also technology, and flexibility. Discussion on the private and public sector were also addressed. In the private sector, the challenge is to how to solve the gap between more and less opportunities in rural areas. Rural areas are the most challenging to get work to because there is not a lot of business in a single remote location. On the other hand, the public sector has its own challenges. One challenge for the public sector is that there are higher wages with jobs, yet, this is further not to ignore that the private sector has less wages with jobs.

The biggest question asked during the discussion was about what can be done to make things better right now. One key idea was access to the quality of education. This means to make more of an investment in teaching by preparing the educators at the colleges and universities. Another key idea was about having a global mindset. Having a global mindset is focusing on rural areas for people to finish school so that they achieve more skills for the ever changing workforce.

Addressing the skill gaps in Latin America or any country is important for the development of not only the country itself, but the person as well.