Funding scarce for training new hires

Skilled positions going unfilled for lack of qualified candidates

By John W. SchoenSenior producer
msnbc.com
updated 6/23/2011 7:26:04 AM ET

There’s widespread consensus that millions of jobs go unfilled in the U.S. because employers can’t find skilled workers.

But there’s less agreement on where the money will come from to train those jobless workers. Nobody, it seems, wants to pick up the tab.

Despite an unemployment rate of 9.1 percent in May, nearly three million job openings went unfilled — up from roughly 2.1 million when the recession ended in June 2009. To be sure, that's not nearly enough jobs for the roughly 15 million Americans who are out of work.

But many of those positions remain unfilled because employers can't find qualified candidates to do the work. From manufacturing to health care, employers report that they can no longer rely on hiring entry level workers and training them on the job.

“In the '60s and '70s you could go from an entry level job on the loading dock to manufacturing engineer or accountant to maybe a manager in a corner office,â€