the.world.is.flat-第80章

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upward。　
While　expanding　research　universities　on　the　high　end　of　the　spectrum　is　important；　
so　is　expanding　the　availability　of　technical　schools　and　community　colleges。　
Everyone　should　have　a　chance　to　be　educated　beyond　high　school。　Otherwise　
upper…income　kids　will　get　those　skills　and　their　slice；　and　the　lower…income　kids　
will　never　get　a　chance。　We　have　to　increase　the　government　subsidies　that　make　it　
possible　for　more　and　more　kids　to　attend　community　colleges　and　more　and　more　
low…skilled　workers　to　get　retrained。　
JFK　wanted　to　put　a　man　on　the　moon。　My　vision　is　to　put　every　American　man　or　woman　
on　a　campus。　
Employers　have　a　critical　contribution　to　make　to　lifetime　learning　and　fostering　
employability；　as　opposed　to　guaranteed　employment。　Take；　for　instance；　CapitalOne；　
the　global　credit　card　company；　which　began　outsourcing　elements　of　its　backroom　
operations　to　Wipro　and　Infosys　in　India　over　the　past　few　years。　Competing　in　the　
global　financial　services　market；　the　company　felt　it　had　to　take　advantage　of　all　
the　cost…saving　opportunities　that　its　competitors　were。　CapitalOne　began；　though；　
by　trying　to　educate　its　workers　through　workshops　about　the　

company's　competitive　predicament。　It　made　clear　that　there　is　no　safe　haven　where　
lifetime　employment　is　possible　anymore　…inside　Capital…One　or　outside。　Then　it　
developed　a　whole　program　for　cross…training　of　computer　programmers；　those　most　
affected　by　outsourcing。　The　company　would　take　a　programmer　who　specialized　in　
mainframes　and　teach　him　or　her　to　be　a　distributed　systems　programmer　as　well。　
CapitalOne　did　similar　cross…training　on　its　business　side；　in　everything　from　auto　
loans　to　risk　management。　As　a　result；　the　workers　who　were　eventually　let　go　in　an　
outsourcing　move　were　in　a　much　better　position　to　get　new　jobs；　because　they　were　
cross…trained　and　therefore　more　employable。　And　those　who　were　cross…trained　but　
retained　were　more　versatile　and　therefore　more　valuable　to　CapitalOne；　because　they　
could　do　multiple　tasks。　
What　CapitalOne　was　doing；　out　of　both　its　own　self…interest　and　a　feeling　of　
obligation　to　workers　it　was　letting　go；　was　trying　to　make　more　and　more　of　its　workers　
into　versatilists。　The　word　〃versatilist〃　was　coined　by　Gartner　Inc。；　the　technology　
consultants；　to　describe　the　trend　in　the　information　technology　world　away　from　
specialization　and　toward　employees　who　are　more　adaptable　and　versatile。　Building　


employee　versatility　and　finding　employees　who　already　are　or　are　willing　to　become　
versatilists　〃will　be　the　new　watchword　for　career　planning；〃　according　to　a　Gartner　
study　quoted　by　TechRepublic。com。　〃Enterprises　that　focus　on　technical　aptitude　alone　
will　failto　align　workforce　performance　with　business　value；〃　theGartner　study　said。　
〃Instead；　they　need　to　build　a　team　of　versatilists　who　build　a　rich　portfolio　of　
knowledge　and　competencies　tofuel　＇multiple＇　business　objectives。〃　The　Gartner　study　
noted　that　〃specialists　generally　have　deep　skills　and　narrow　scope；　giving　them　
expertise　that　is　recognized　bypeers　but　seldom　valued　outside　their　immediate　domain。　
Generalists　have　broad　scope　and　shallow　skills；　enabling　them　to　respond　or　act　
reasonably　quickly　but　often　without　gaining　or　demonstrating　the　confidence　of　their　
partners　or　customers。　Versatilists；　in　contrast；　apply　depth　of　skill　to　a　
progressively　widening　scope　of　situations　and　experiences；　gaining　new　competencies；　
building　relationships；　and　assuming　new　roles。〃　TechRepublic　quoted　Joe　Santana；　

director　of　training　at　Siemens　Business　Services：　〃With　flat　or　even　smaller　budgets　
and　fewer　people；　managers　need　to　make　the　most　of　the　people　they　have　。　。　。　They　
can　no　longer　see　people　as　specialty　tools。　And　their　people　need　to　become　less　
like　specialty　tools　and　more　like　Swiss　Army　knives。　Those　'Swiss　Army　knives'　are　
the　versatilists。〃　
In　addition　to　their　own　self…interest　in　making　more　of　their　own　employees　into　
human　Swiss　Army　knives；　companies　should　be　encouraged；　with　government　subsidies　
or　tax　incentives；　to　offer　as　wide　an　array　as　possible　of　in…house　learning　
opportunities。　The　menu　of　Internet…based　worker…training　programs　today　is　
enormous…from　online　degree　programs　to　in…house　guided　training　for　different　
specializations。　Not　only　is　the　menu　enormous；　but　the　cost　to　the　company　for　
offering　these　educational　options　is　very　low。　The　more　lifetime　learning　
opportunities　that　companies　provide；　the　more　they　are　both　widening　the　skill　base　
of　their　own　workforce　and　fulfilling　a　moral　obligation　to　workers　whose　jobs　are　
outsourced　to　see　to　it　that　they　leave　more　employable　than　they　came。　If　there　is　
a　new　social　contract　implicit　between　employers　and　employees　today；　it　should　be　
this：　You　give　me　your　labor；　and　I　will　guarantee　that　as　long　as　you　work　here；　
I　will　give　you　every　opportunity…through　either　career　advancement　or　training…　to　
become　more　employable；　more　versatile。　
While　we　need　to　redouble　our　efforts　to　build　the　muscles　of　each　individual　
American；　we　have　to　continue　to　import　muscles　from　abroad　as　well。　Most　of　the　Indian；　
Chinese；　Russian；　Japanese；　Korean；　Iranian；　Arab；　and　Israeli　engineers；　physicists；　
and　scientists　who　come　to　work　or　study　in　the　United　States　make　great　citizens。　
They　are　family…oriented；　educated；　and　hardworking；　and　most　would　jump　at　the　chance　
to　become　an　American。　They　are　exactly　the　type　of　people　this　country　needs；　and　
we　cannot　let　the　FBI；　CIA；　and　Homeland　Security；　in　their　zeal　to　keep　out　the　next　
Mohammed　Atta；　also　keep　out　the　next　Sergey　Brin；　one　of　the　cofounders　of　Google；　
who　was　born　in　Russia。　As　a　computer　architect　friend　of　mine　says；　〃If　a　foreign…born　
person　is　one　day　going　to　take　my　job；　I'd　prefer　they　be　American　citizens　helping　
pay　for　my　retirement　benefits。〃　


I　would　favor　an　immigration　policy　that　gives　a　five…year　work　visa　to　
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any　foreign　student　who　completes　a　Ph。D。　at　an　accredited　American　university　in　
any　subject。　I　don't　care　if　it　is　Greek　mythology　or　mathematics。　If　we　can　cream　
off　the　first…round　intellectual　draft　choices　from　around　the　world；　it　will　always　
end　up　a　net　plus　for　America。　If　the　flat　world　is　about　connecting　all　the　knowledge　
pools　together；　we　want　our　knowledge　pool　to　be　the　biggest。　Said　Bill　Brody；　the　
president　of　Johns　Hopkins；　〃We　are　in　a　global　talent　search；　so　anything　we　can　
do　in　America　to　get　those　top　draft　choices　we　should　do；　because　one　of　them　is　
going　to　be　Babe　Ruth；　and　why　should　we　let　him　or　her　go　somewhere　else？〃　
Good　Fat　Cushions　Worth　Keeping　
While　many　of　the　old　corporate　and　government　safety　nets　will　vanish　under　global　
competition　in　the　flat　world；　some　fat　still　needs　to　be　maintained；　and　even　added。　
As　everyone　who　worries　about　his　or　her　health　knows；　there　is　〃good　fat〃　and　〃bad　
fat〃…but　everybody　needs　some　fat。　That　is　also　true　of　every　country　in　the　flat　
world。　Social　Security　is　good　fat。　We　need　to　keep　it。　A　welfare　system　that　
discourages　people　from　working　is　bad　fat。　The　sort　of　good　fat　that　actually　needs　
to　be　added　for　a　flat　world　is　wage　insurance。　
According　to　a　study　by　Lori　Kletzer；　an　economist　at　the　University　of　California；　
Santa　Cruz；in　the　1980s　and　'90s；　two…thirds　ofworkers　who　lost　jobsin　manufacturing　
industries　hit　by　overseas　competition　earned　less　on　their　next　job。　A　quarter　of　
workers　who　lost　their　jobs　and　were　reemployed　saw　their　income　fall　30　percent　or　
more。　Losing　a　job　for　any　reason　is　a　trauma…for　the　worker　and　his　or　her　family…but　
particularly　for　older　workers　who　are　less　able　to　adapt　to　new　production　techniques　
or　lack　the　education　to　move　up　into　more　skilled　service　jobs。　
This　idea　of　wage　insurance　was　first　proposed　in　1986　by　Harvard's　Robert　Lawrence　
and　Robert　E。　Litan　of　the　Brookings　Institution；　in　a　
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book　called　Saving　Free　Trade。　The　idea　languished　for　a　while　until　it　started　to　
catch　fire　again　with　an　updated　analysis　by　Kletzer　and　Litan　in　2001。　It　got　further