Wall Street Journal (09/20/13) Stephen Moore

In this opinion piece, Stephen Moore of the Journal’s editorial board interviews Bob Funk, president and founder of Express Employment Services and a member of the ASA board of directors, about the federal health care law. “Our franchises across the country are seeing a definite demand for more part-time workers,” he says, and the law is pushing the country closer to the 30-hour workweek. Funk says American companies will have a hard time competing against businesses in Asia, where employees typically work upwards of 60 hours per week. Research released today by Express outlines three trends that have emerged as full implementation of the Affordable Care Act approaches.

Funk believes that many young Millennials view paychecks as something they are entitled to rather than something to be earned. To help lower the unemployment rate, Funk suggests shrinking “social welfare state programs” like food stamps, and closing the skills gap. Funk says Express has as many as 20,000 jobs the company can’t fill because workers don’t have the skills required. He says younger people seeking solid careers should obtain training in accounting, information technology, manufacturing-robotics programming, welding, and engineering.