Industry News
The Future Will Demand More of the American Worker
To compete effectively, American workers need to find innovative solutions to productivity challenges.
"The global economy means global competition," says Praveen Gupta, president of Accelper Consulting in
Shaumburg, Illinois. "American companies are up against foreign producers who pay low wages, provide no
benefits, and work people long hours."
Gupta is author of the book Business Innovation in the 21st Century and has taught management classes for
Joliet Junior College which includes a recent Green Belt program for the Andrew Corporation.
For American employers to compete effectively, they will need to become creative problem solvers – finding
cost-saving solutions while producing a quality product.
"America still has a thriving manufacturing base," says Gupta. "We cannot lose it. We need to find
innovative ways to compete successfully."
An uncertain economy only adds to the demands on workers. "Currently, anything less than six percent
unemployment means that most qualified people have jobs," said Bruce Kuzmanich, contract training manager
for Joliet Junior College's (JJC) Corporate and Community Services Division (CCS). "This puts a lot of
pressure on employees to meet the growing needs of the marketplace with fewer people.
And this will not change if the economy goes into a recession. "While a recessionary economy will add more
people to the job pool, it will also drive down demand for more workers," says Kuzmanich. "This will
continue to put more pressure on those left in the workforce."
John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas agrees. According to
Challenger, workers need to do the job they have been hired to do and augment it with additional work.
"It may require more hours on the job," says Challenger, "and some advance planning...but the dividends
can be significant."
Gupta, however, has a different solution. "American workers can be more valuable to their companies by
being more innovative," he explains. "Nothing generates profit and more jobs better than creative and
innovative solutions to the marketplace."
Joliet Junior College is making an effort to stay ahead of this problem by offering a training program
designed to teach workers and managers in any industry to be more innovative and creative.
"We've been very fortunate to work with Praveen and deliver his impressive training on Innovation," says
Kuzmanich. "Students in his classes are surprised at their ability to develop creative solutions and
actually solve real problems."
"The economy will always be in flux," says Gupta, "which means we need to always look for a better way to
do something. That is the key to survival."