An excellent piece arguing against the “skills gap” hypothesis. The conclusion:
There is no denying the importance of education and training to long-term outcomes for workers. But that does not mean the solution to stagnant or inadequate wage increases lies in addressing a skills gap. To address the wage problem, Congress and regulators need to ensure that workers retain the ability to organize into unions, and unions need to have the power to bargain collectively—and effectively—to negotiate fair wage levels. In addition, policymakers need to establish wage floors that spill over into higher pay for workers along the distribution. Policies like these will compensate for power imbalances that have maintained wage stagnation.
It is possible to overstate the importance of skills, and it’s also possible to understate it. But that piece is well done and links to great evidence throughout. My writing on this subject is here, here, here.
beyond the times 