The ability to solve problems is a skill that employers complain high school graduates are lacking, making them ill-prepared to enter the workforce, said Christine O’Rourke of the Society for Human Resource Management.
A survey of human-resource professionals by SHRM found that 61 percent either disagree or strongly disagree that high school graduates are qualified to join the world of work.
O’Rourke said they often lack the problem-solving skills to handle a situation they have never seen. “It makes it more difficult to bring high school students into the market,” she said.
O’Rourke is a member of SHRM’s School-to-Work Committee, which helps companies implement internships, job shadowing and mentoring programs.
“School-to-work programs that are most effective give kids the opportunity to be confronted with how to solve a problem and to see firsthand how a professional can do that,” she said.
However, the survey also found that such programs are sorely underfunded.
———-
Send e-mail to Staylor@tribune.com.
