Bush Calls For Funds To Boost Job TrainingBush Calls For Funds To Boost Job Training

Mickey Corbin, an unemployed I.T. project manager, isn't counting on President Bush's latest plan to help him land a job. In the State of the Union address last week, the president called for a $250 million investment to fund partnerships between community colleges and employers to help furnish Americans with the knowledge they need to succeed in the job market. "This country of ours must also recognize that the workforce needs to be constantly trained to stay up with the technological advances," Bush said after his speech at a job-training panel at Owens Community College in Perrysburg, Ohio.

But Corbin, who lives 100 miles east of the college where Bush spoke, doesn't think the proposal will help groom him for a new position. The 56-year-old Columbia Station, Ohio, resident spent the better part of the past two decades as an IT project manager, including 13 years working for a consulting firm that contracted work with several major banks and the Internal Revenue Service. Corbin has been unemployed for a year and says he needs a job, not a promise for future training. "I just don't see it will be my avenue to employment," he says.

Yet many could benefit from the proposal, says Martin Bean, chief operating officer at New Horizons Learning Centers and moderator of another Bush panel held later in Mesa, Ariz. Community colleges, he says, are an ideal place to furnish the know-how IT workers need to land new jobs. "The ultimate solution is to ensure those people get retraining programs to further develop their skills, to move ahead in their careers to more leading-edge technologies," he says.

One question on the minds of some is how far $250 million would go. With 1,200 community colleges in the United States, that amounts to about $208,000 for each school. "It's a hopeful sign, but we're not clear where the money will come from and how it will be distributed," says Norma Kent, VP for communications at the American Association of Community Colleges. "We're waiting eagerly to see how this falls into place."

Robert Josefek Jr., an assistant professor of information and operations management at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business who studies IT employment trends, asks whether the emphasis on community colleges is appropriate. "I have nothing against community colleges; they're a great source of certain types of technology skill sets," he says. "But jobs that have long-term potential are going to require more-sophisticated talent than community colleges turn out."

The proposal for funds comes at a time when the IT job market is stagnant. More than 3.3 million Americans were employed in IT jobs at year's end, about the same number as at the beginning of 2003, according to an information analysis of the government data used to determine the monthly unemployment rate. The unemployment rate for IT workers averaged 5.6% last year, a bit better than the 6.0% rate for all workers.

Corbin, meanwhile, is cautiously optimistic that as the economy improves, he'll soon land a job. He'd even consider relocating for a good offer. "Given the current economic climate," he says, "if the job is in Iraq, I may take it."