Employee education and skills training need to be a priority in the U.S., and businesses need to partner with public institutions, unions and educators to make that happen, said United Technologies’ Chairman and CEO Gregory Hayes.
Addressing the Council on Foreign Relations Tuesday, Hayes argued against barriers to free trade, but not before emphasizing that productivity for manufacturers would improve with more training and shared responsibility for it.
“When business takes the lead in providing employees with the opportunity to gain new skills, it is the ultimate public-private partnership — delivering benefits to companies, employees and broader society as a whole,” he said.
In fact, UTC practices what it preaches, he added, having launched its Employee Scholar Program 20 years ago, a program that has involved more than 45,000 employees earning more than 38,000 degrees.
As an example of innovation he cited the Pratt & Whitney engineers who helped manufacture the Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine, which “reduces fuel consumption by 16 percent, cuts regulated emissions by 50 percent and slashes the aircraft noise footprint by 75 percent.”
Hayes also urged lawmakers to consider changing the tax code so that tuition reimbursement programs are not treated as taxable income.
“Government also has a role to play in incentivizing employee education programs,” he said.
Ensuring workforces can deliver will only occur, he concluded by “acknowledging and accepting that our future success is deeply rooted in education and lifelong learning.”
