Miami, August 1, 2017 – Miami Dade College’s (MDC) President Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón recently attended the first meeting of the Council on Foreign Relation’s (CFR) Independent Task Force on the Future of the U.S. Workforce in Washington D.C., to discuss current U.S. policy; building, attracting and retaining high-paying jobs; supporting work in the new economy; education skills and lifelong learning; among other topics.
“It’s an opportune time to be part of an organization that continues to provide real solutions to address our country’s most pressing challenges,” said President Padrón. “By ensuring access to education, working to make college more affordable, and creating pathways to reach our students, higher education will have a direct impact in the creation of a competitive workforce.”
The meeting focused on two main questions: What sort of workforce will companies need to expand further in the U.S. and what steps should be taken to make the U.S. a more attractive investment location? And secondly, what should governments at all levels, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations be doing to prepare the U.S. workforce for these changing labor market needs and opportunities, while at the same time creating additional economic growth by improving market access for American companies in foreign markets?
The U.S. economy has created more than fifteen million jobs since the end of the recession in 2010, the longest period of sustained job growth on record. However, far too many of these new jobs are poorly paid and barely provide enough to help even a two-income family keep its head above water. The gap between the workforce prospects of college graduates and those with a high school education or less has never been larger.
The challenge is to create more high-paying jobs and prepare more Americans to fill those jobs. The Task Force aims to provide recommendations and build a stronger consensus around policies and approaches that will help create more well-paying jobs, and help Americans better prepare for work in a rapidly changing economy.
About the Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries. Founded in 1921, the CFR takes no institutional positions on matters of policy. For more information, visit www.cfr.org.