When discussing strategies for tackling the jobs crisis, policymakers often focus exclusively on the headline figures. With the latest CSO figures showing 293,000 unemployed people out of a workforce of only 2.1 million, that is understandable. However, it would help to look beyond the numbers. Not enough has been made of the fact that several thousand of the unemployed are highly experienced, qualified people such as architects, solicitors and accountants. Perhaps one of the key considerations for policymakers should be how we think strategically about effective deployment of this human capital?

Let's consider engineers, several thousand of whom have lost their jobs over the past three years. Between 2000 and 2009 an average of 8,697 CAO applicants accepted third-level engineering courses so they constitute a large number of our labour force. The CAO points required to study engineering range from 420 to 550; it is clear that these are some of the more academically gifted people in Ireland.

Engineers become experts at problem-solving, which is undoubtedly the reason why so many of the world's top CEOs come from an engineering background – 22%, according to research by Spencer Stuart in 2008. Ireland is engulfed in problems and yet we have a surplus of gifted problem-solvers among the ranks of the unemployed. So what's the strategy?

The recent budget did not show much in the way of creativity in tackling the jobs crisis. This is perhaps understandable given the time constraints to produce an extreme fiscal readjustment. However, the polls suggest this is a challenge that will fall to a new government. Fine Gael's 'Reinventing Government' points to some areas of investment, such as renewable energy, which may indeed deliver some future jobs growth. But strategies need to be more imaginative than simply moving what limited money we have from one area to another.

The starting point for any jobs strategy involves recognising that the key resource available to this country is our skilled human capital. Calculating how to allocate this resource is what strategic thinking is all about. We need a plan that maps both the current and future needs of industry and the skills of the unemployed. Follow this with a gap analysis and tailor the training programmes accordingly. It is not complex, but it is not what is happening. Instead there is an 'off the shelf' approach to training, whereby inappropriately simple courses are offered to highly skilled people. A plan that captured both the skills analysis exercise as described, married to an imaginative internship programme would far better suit employers' future needs.

Reimagining Fás successfully is crucial here. The credibility of this organisation is at an all-time low, which is presumably the primary reason for the planned revamp. Some observers have dismissed the exercise as merely a rebrand. However, I think this holds too narrow a view of rebranding. They are not, nor should they be, mere name or logo changes. Instead, they are an opportunity for a root-and-branch change in the ideology, direction and culture of an organisation. This ensures that the new brand actually stands for something.

Think of Skoda, which was once synonymous with sub-standard automobiles. With Volkswagen's input it has been successfully rebranded to become recognised as producing reliable cars and consequently it is one of the fastest-growing automobile brands in Europe. I sincerely hope there are similar intentions where Fás is concerned. It has a real opportunity to refashion itself as an organisation concerned with creatively tackling the jobs crisis in the manner called for by the current economic environment.

The good news is that the 2011 budget has reduced the money allocated to skills, training and development by only 2%, so the money is still there to make this happen. It is not actual fiscal investment that is needed here but rather intellectual investment. Strategies to make our training organisations more effective are needed. However, it will require some creative thinking to make it work. Perhaps we should put an engineer in charge.

Paul O'Donnell is operations manager at Hays, a recruiter in construction and property