Learn new skills, workforce advised
Workers will be left behind in the jobs market of the future if they do not learn new skills, it was claimed tonight.
The American Chamber of Commerce said that despite the current economic success, there were risks ahead.
“The bar for international competition is being raised very rapidly and Ireland’s workforce is faced with being left behind in the new environment which is emerging,” said president Eoin O’Driscoll.
He told an audience at a Fourth of July dinner in Dublin, which included the US ambassador James C Kenny, that 30% of the current Irish workforce did not have a Leaving Certificate and that the country ranked only 15 out of 30 for the number of 25 – 64 year-old workers with a degree.
“Unless we invest more heavily in education, many of the existing workforce’s skills will be obsolete by 2015. Our skilled workforce, which has been a key attraction for multinational companies locating here, will no longer be capable of meeting the demands of modern, global companies,” he said.
The 570 US companies in Ireland employ 90,000 people and account for 65% of all investment.
Mr O’Driscoll said that to safeguard American investment in the country, employers should help their workers in lifelong learning and added that universities needed to change from being producer centres to learner centres.
