Study the following chart carefully and write an essay in which you should 1) analyze the chart, 2) interpret its meaning, and suggest possible measure to take. The chart shows that the U.S. workforce, about 145 million in number, matched job demands well in 2000. However, the gap between workforce and jobs, especially skilled jobs, appeared soon after 2001. The shortage of skilled workers is estimated to grow to about 5.5 million in 2010, and 25 million in 2020.

The cartoonist warns that the supply of labor is about to fall seriously short of demand, which means that the economical development will be hampered by the scarcity of labor, especially skilled workers, over the next 20 years. The labor squeeze may result from the fact that the existing workforce is going to get out soon, and the feeder pool just isn’t coming up.

Possible precautions against the threat of labor shortage may include: providing effective job training for most employees, bidding up wages for skilled workers, tempting older workers to stay on the jobs they are skilled in, and lobbying the government to raise the share of skilled immigrants. Anyhow, what Americans are to do least is ignore the severity of the problem.