Bill Gates: Skilled foreign minds needed in U.S. or competitive advantage might be lost

Before a U.S. Sentate panel on March 7th Bill Gates competitive advantage is being threatened by U.S. immigration laws. Gates wants to lift the U.S. restriction of temporary H-1B visas, which allows foreign workers with at least a bachelor's degree to work in the U.S. from 65,000 a year.

'We are failing to live up to our obligation to make the investments needed to make sure that the U.S. remains competitive in the future,' Gates told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. 'Our economic future is in peril.'

Gates said the United States should strengthen math, technology and science education so the nation can double the number of graduates in those areas by 2015.

See the whole story at the financial times here.

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalization * Trends * Outsourcing

Global Talent Management for Technology Executives

A recent study by the Economist Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers states:

Workforce investments represent a singular untapped opportunity for technology companies to drive financial performance in the coming decade. The effectiveness of these investments may well determine which companies succeed or fail; which companies continue to innovate, cut costs and drive productivity; and which companies spend too much energy just to replace the talnt they once had or work without cohesion due to poor leadership and direction.

The studies main observations about talent management for technology executives:

1. A priority with failing grades. Many technology executives are making human capital management a greater priority, but the survey shows they do not have a high regard for their firms’ capabilities in this area.

2. Acquiring hybrids. Executives are beginning to experience a painful scarcity for the essential employee: that talented, technically-savvy individual who can collaborate, innovate, and manage change.

3. Harvesting talent from within. Technology companies worldwide are focusing on personnel development and training, and, by inference, on the retention of new hires and existing personnel.

4. Managing global markets and global talent. Nearly half of all technology companies say they difficulty finding technical talent in emerging markets, and just under half say these difficulties include the retention of skilled people around the globe.

Read the study at:

Technology Executive Connections: Successful Strategies for Talent Management. [Economist Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers]

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalization * Trends * Outsourcing

New Ways of Thinking in the War for Talent

A McKinsey & Company study (2001) culminated in the book The War for Talent, an insightful look into the deeply held belief, in 'high-performing' companies, that the key to competitive advantage comes from superior talent and managing that talent effectively. The following chart, from The War for Talent, takes a look at the the new and old ways of thinking about human capital:

It's Time to Retire Retirement

"Long-standing human resources practices invest heavily in youth and push out older workers. This must change--and public policy, too--or companies will find themselves running off a demographic cliff as baby boomers age" (It's Time to Retire Retirement, Harvard Business Review).

This HBR article highlights the need for all types of companies to create a plan to battle the coming talent shortage. 60% of companies do not account for workforce aging in their business plans! Working with 'older' workers is a main tactic to beating this threat to competitiveness. Creating a culture that honors experience, offering flexible work and introducing flexible retirement will be critical to companies that want to remain competitive in their field.

It's Time to Retire Retirement. [Harvard Business Review - Ken Dychtwald, Tamara Erickson, Bob Morision]

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalism * Trends * Outsourcing