Immelt makes two great points here in growing the economy.
First, the need to upgrade skills of the workforce is important. Training has ALWAYS been one of the first activities to be cut when a CEO is looking to bolster their P&L.
You could equate training with maintenance. If you are having monetary problems, should you cut maintenance on your car? I have a new car but I want to save money so I skip changing the oil. What do you get? - a pile of junk!
Also, in my career, when I re-engineer some accounting or finance process, people almost invariably push back out of fear of the unknown. This has to change.
Part of the change is executive management making it clear that "FTE's" will not be cut when the process is completed. This is ALWAYS a fear with the rank and file. They must TRUST their leadership which is a scarce resource now days.
Second, this stupid EBITDA idea has got to go. PE brought this on us and most companies drank the "Jim Jones Juice". You have to invest in your business with capital expenditures if you expect to be successful long term. CF may look great for the ST, but the organization's productivity will only get decimated without it.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ge-ceo-jeff-immelt-argues-fear-mongering-...
