CEOs from some of the largest companies think the education system needs to change in order to prepare people adequately for work.
Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer moderated a panel at the Milken Institute Global Conference that included John Chambers, Executive Chairman of Cisco; Denise Morrison, President and CEO of Campbell Soup; Tim Sloan, CEO and President of Wells Fargo; Mark Weinberger, Global Chairman and CEO of EY; and Devin Wenig, President and CEO of eBay.
“I think most of this on this panel would say even 80 to 90% of today’s college graduates aren’t trained in teamwork, collaboration, technology, and the skills we need,” Cisco (CSCO) executive chairman John Chambers said, noting that most of the kids entering Kindergarten today will take jobs that don’t even exist.
“Yet our education system is moving in an old-world fashion. And this is what is different when I said what has changed versus two decades ago — it’s the speed of change. And so we have to go with not only a national agenda in terms of digitization, a startup mentality because that’s where most of the jobs will be created. We have to have the courage to re-do education and there is no entitlement. I think the U.S. will lead in this, but we’ve let a lot of people get out in front of us,” Chambers said.
Devin Wenig, the CEO of eBay, agreed with Cisco’s Chambers, noting that it’s an “immense missed opportunity” that the current debate around immigration, particularly in regards to H1-B visas, isn’t focusing on computer science training in school.
“Why don’t we have mandatory K-12 computer science education for every student in the United States?” Wenig asked.
“Because John [Chambers] and I don’t wake up every morning saying,’We want to hire a foreign worker.’ We wake up in the morning and say, ‘I need someone who can program a mobile application. I need somebody that understands advanced data skills.’ And we get those jobs wherever we can get them.”
He added that there are pockets in the economy where companies simply can’t hire people right now.
“And those aren’t all highly skilled computer science jobs,” Wenig said. “When I say mandatory technology or STEM education, I don’t think the world is going to be all computer engineering and computer science. But that’s beside the point. Having that foundational education allows and opens up an entire side of the economy not open today to jobs that are likely in the crosshairs of these technology platforms.”
Wells Fargo (WFC) CEO Tim Sloan added that the education system right now is letting down the diverse citizens the most.