AS former United States president Bill Clinton's campaign strategy ran: "It's the economy, stupid."

And Charles Phillips, the 59-year-old chief executive of software firm Infor, knows something about that, from his time on Barack Obama's post-recession presidential economic recovery advisory board.

"I think what's been missing is the way we train people," he tells The Business Times, his voice rising in earnestness. "We need to train them earlier, and give them more specific skill sets."