Shortage of college grads looms

A new report from the Public Policy Institute of California concludes that the state is facing a “dire shortage” of college-educated workers in the near future.

How is that so, when jobs are so scarce today? The difference, says the PPIC, is between the short-term setback caused by the current recession and “a prolonged wasting-away of the state’s economy.”

“If California cannot produce enough educated workers to meet demand, businesses will turn elsewhere, and the state will no longer be the desired location for high tech, biotechnology, emerging green technologies, and the many other industries that depend on educated workers,” the PPIC reports.

Budget problems have forced the California State University to cut enrollment systemwide by 10,000 this year.

To view the report, go to www.ppic.org.