Educators and employers are failing to meet the challenge of equipping enough workers with the skills needed to keep the US economy competitive and fill the millions of vacant positions, according to a report by Harvard Business School’s project on managing the future of work and the American Association of Community Colleges released on Monday.

The report examines the state of collaboration between community colleges and business leaders and calls on employers to partner with educators.

“Employers complain they cannot find the talent they need in terms of quantity, quality and diversity, and critical middle-skills positions go unfilled,” the report noted. “At the same time, many students emerge from the community college system unable to find employment in their field of study or at a living wage.”

The report found that 93% of educators gave employers a “B” grade or lower on their level of collaboration with community colleges. By contrast, 28% of employers gave themselves an “A” grade. In addition, 80% of educators agreed that colleges are producing the work-ready graduates that employers need, while only 62% of employers agreed that community colleges are producing the work-ready employees that their company needs.

However, only 11% of educators said their local employers were willing to set hiring targets, and only 10% said employers would offer job guarantees to students who completed a program. Meanwhile, 84% of employers reported that their organization hired community college graduates, and 47% of employers surveyed said hiring talent from the open market was more cost-effective than investing in training new talent.

“The current state of collaboration is failing to meet today’s business needs and putting future competitiveness and prosperity at risk,” said Professor Joe Fuller, co-chair of the project on managing the future of work. “The partnership imperative is a wake-up call for community college leaders and business executives to fix what’s broken and ensure better outcomes for students.”