The convulsive changes that are taking place in the economies of most western countries as a result of globalisation are creating many victims, not just among those who used to be termed “working class” families, but increasingly among middle class ones.

There was a time when the breadwinners of middle class families employed in middle management or in advanced technical roles took job security for granted. However, this is no longer the case because when a manufacturing or a services company closes its doors since the owners want to relocate to a low cost country, several workers, both from the traditional working class and middle class, end up on what is often termed as “life’s scrap heap”.

When you are 40+ and you lose your job for whatever reason, it is a very difficult situation to handle. Employers prefer to employ younger, more educated and more flexible adults, rather than middle aged people.

This is creating immense mental and physical strains on the families of these unfortunate workers. Mental illness, marriage breakdowns, or dysfunctional families are the price we are paying for such a phenomenon that shows no sign of abating.

But we who are in politics to improve people’s lives can never accept this situation. There are solutions if we have the political will to do something about this social and economic illness that is affecting the baby boomer generation so badly.

Continued education

Not enough is being done to retrain these workers. It is not enough to have a number of generic courses aimed at improving the skills of workers just made redundant by their employers. We need to have a tailor-made solution possible for every individual who finds himself in this unfortunate situation.

A proper government funded organisation should conduct a skills gap analysis and try to match the available opportunities with the skills of those who have the potential to fill job vacancies. What we need is a one-to-one matching of vacancies with potential applicants, and a specific training programme for individuals whose experience or educational profile needs brushing up.

This is not an easy task, but if we want to rescue thousands of our workers from life’s scrap heap we have no alternative. It will of course also involve a heavy financial cost but it is worth embarking on this programme.

The Siemens model

Business Week recently reported that Siemens dumped its money-losing mobile phone unit with Taiwan’s BenQ at a cost of $1.4 billion. Public pressure spurred Siemens to pay $46 million to retrain workers after BenQ closed down.

This should serve as a model for our trade unions. When a company’s failure is inevitable, they should not just concentrate on securing the best terminal benefits. More important is a commitment to retrain workers and the financial investment that is needed to make this commitment achievable.

We are increasingly seeing well-educated middle and senior managers joining the ranks of the unemployed completely demoralised. Up to some years ago they considered their experience and educational background gave they a guarantee of employment for life.

Unfortunately, today’s reality is that industrial, clerical, managerial and technical workers need to embrace continuous training as a fact of life. In fact it is their right to demand that their employers invest in their continuous training.

It is sad that not enough is being done on this front by the present administration. The Labour Party believes that no one deserves to be dumped on life’s scrap heap. It is for this reason that our economic and social policies, which will guide us when in government, focus on the need to excel in the continuous training or our workers.

Dr Mangion is the deputy leader of the Opposition