Baby Boomers: Why do so many lack real computer skills? [View All]

I've noticed this problem in activism over the last several years and more recently in running my business in the last year.

The majority of college educated people in my general age group (late 40's to mid 50's) have little or no basic computer skills. They don't know how to send emails, look things up on the internet, use Outlook, create a spreadsheet, handle basic computer graphics, create a database or do anything more than type a basic letter in Word.

Some manage to get along in good paying jobs, though I don't know how. And many women that we counsel and assist can't find decent jobs because their skills haven't grown since the 1960's. In the last year, I've hired 2 people, both with advanced degrees, who can't do more than type a letter in Word and print it. Both had taken computer classes and worked in previous jobs that required them to use computers. I'm on the verge of firing them both right now because I'm either having to do their jobs for them or spend most of my time showing them how to do the most basic tasks.

One employee was assigned to develop press releases about our company and program for 4 different cities in the state and send them to the major media outlets in each area. One month later, I had to finish the job myself. They spend half the day screwing up their email system, deleting stuff from the network and messing up their connection to the office printers. I spend the rest of the day fixing it all only to see them come in the next day and do it again.

Half the activists in our local political groups can't stay engaged because they don't know how to retrieve or read emails or (this one seems to be hardest) download attachments. They want us to print and mail everything to them.

With the economy taking a nosedive, I fear many people (especially women) my age are going to see drastic reductions in their incomes as they end up with jobs in retail or food service. I have a liberal arts degree, but am self taught in computers and IS. I took the time to use my computer for more than shopping online and learned networking, database development, desktop publishing, web site development, etc.

Anyone else run into this problem or have an idea of how to solve it? Maybe its the area I live in (traditionally a very blue collar area. I'm convinced many people would be better informed voters and more politically active if they knew how to use their computer, get email and surf the internet.