From the Editor

Carol O. Rogers

Executive Editor, Indiana Business Research Center, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

What do employers want? Renaissance workers: folks who are skilled at many things and master of them all. They want Leonardo’s and Michelangelo’s—and no, not the teenage mutant versions, but the ones who, during the European Renaissance, were architect, painter, sculptor, poet and engineer all in one body. The 15th and 16th centuries were a time of rapid change, of new technologies—think paper and printing presses with exchangeable type invented by another Renaissance worker, Gutenberg. They were living in a time where the rapid dissemination of knowledge increased and great shifts occurred in the locations of money and power.

Fast forward to the 21st century and marvel at the technological advances, across all sectors of our economic lives, that have transformed how we work and what we do. Today’s employers want workers with ready-to-use skill sets who can also adapt to rapid change. Indiana is seeking to transform its education and career policies and systems to meet the challenge of creating a new breed of Renaissance workers. This issue of the Indiana Business Review contributes to the grand discussions throughout our state regarding how we can create the modern-day worker.