By Jeffrey Stanton

Recent headlines across the US attribute high unemployment rates to "structural changes" in our economy. What are these structural changes and how will they impact librarianship over the years to come? Structural change results from a mismatch between what people can do, given their experience and education, and what hiring organizations actually need. This explains why we can simultaneously have high unemployment and firms that have great difficulty filling positions with qualified workers. Consider, for example, the many US factory workers who can't find jobs while thousands of positions in healthcare and other professions remain open.