The Middle

*/By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc./*

A recent report by Toronto Dominion Bank shows that the demand for "middle
skill" workers is diminishing.   The need for high skill workers is
increasing, while the demand for low skill workers is more or less staying
the same.  The report makes the obvious statement that this is leading to
increasingly polarization in the workplace.  What this ultimately means for
the overall economy as well as what the long term social implications will be
is anybody's guess.  It does appear to be a bit of a troublesome trend. 
One way it may play out is as outlined by Kurt Vonnegut in his first novel
"Player Piano" which I previously blogged about. 
(http://rsdsolutions.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/player-piano.html [1])

Anecdotal evidence would indicate that something similar is happening in risk
management.  Either you are becoming a highly trained specialist in risk, or
a low skill worker in risk.  The technical and regulatory details of
managing risk are too convoluted for the typical manager to efficiently deal
with, or the paperwork required is perceived as too low value for the typical
manager.  What the long term implications of this all is remains anyone's
guess, but my gut feeling is that it is a trend that should not be encouraged
for prudent risk management.


[1] http://rsdsolutions.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/player-piano.html