Posted on 07/14/2005 7:00:15 PM PDT by bayourod
Chicago - The United States faces a severe shortage of skilled workers if current employment and job training trends continue, the National Association of Manufacturers said Monday.
By 2020, the shortage could be more than 10 million workers, according to the Washington trade group, which has more than 14,000 companies as members.
Manufacturers already are struggling with unfilled job openings because they can't find qualified help, said John Engler, president of the group and former governor of Michigan.
"The emerging problem in manufacturing is not a shortage of jobs, but rather a shortage of qualified applicants," Engler said.
"A full 36 percent of our members have said they have employment positions unfilled right now because they cannot find qualified workers. This confirms what our members have been telling us: that the people applying for manufacturing jobs today simply do not have the math, science and technological aptitude they need to work in modern manufacturing."
Engler made his remarks at the largest industrial trade show in North America. That show continues today at McCormick Place, with more than 1,000 companies and 38,000 people in attendance at the convention center.
Shop floor literacy The manufacturing recovery that gained momentum in 2004 will continue to strengthen this year, according to a new association survey.
Seventy-five percent of the 976 executives surveyed said their exports would remain at current levels or increase this year. That's encouraging, given that almost half the executives said that unfair trade practices had adversely affected their businesses, Engler said.
Forty percent of the executives said they planned to add workers, up from 31% a year ago. Only 12% said they planned to reduce their payrolls.
"But there are very few companies looking for low-skilled workers," Engler said. "That's not where the demand is."
Instead, companies aren't able to find enough qualified help to work in an increasingly technical and more demanding manufacturing environment, according to Engler.
"I am not saying you have to know complex algebra to get a job on the plant floor, but you do need fundamental math, science and communication skills," he said. "You can't be illiterate and communicate with other members on a manufacturing team."
Economists in Wisconsin also expect a hiring crunch for state employers. In a paper prepared for the Economic Outlook Conference last week at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, economist Donald A. Nichols wrote, "Because of the strengthening demand for skilled workers I foresee in 2005, labor shortages may become more widespread in Wisconsin as the year wears on."
The state's manufacturing sector is expected to be strong this year, boosted by a recovering economy nationally and a soft dollar encouraging exports, Nichols said.
Hard to fill openings Companies recognize the problem but are struggling to solve it, Engler said.
"It's ominous what the future could hold if we aren't successful in making some changes," he said.
In the Milwaukee area, companies face a shortage of skilled workers such as welders.
It's an ongoing problem, said Jim Sokoly, sales director at Mayville Engineering Co. The company is one of about a dozen Wisconsin companies at the Chicago trade show.
"Welders have been the primary issue for us," Sokoly said. "The jobs pay well enough, and welders could have all of the overtime they wanted last year. But the issue is finding people who want to be welders."
Mike Jankowski, sales manager at Manitowoc Tool & Machining LLC, said it's especially difficult to find skilled welders for second and third shifts.
The company has completed a 45,000-square-foot, $7 million expansion and has other growth plans in mind.
"But it's hard to find skilled people," Jankowski said.
Not everyone is hanging out the "help wanted" sign, as increased automation and lean manufacturing strategies have eliminated many jobs.
In 2002, for example, Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry Co. in Manitowoc had $52 million in sales and 600 employees. Last year, it had $50 million in sales, but only about 350 employees.
"We had to work with our union to change job classifications, but we are definitely working smarter," company sales manager David Hilburger said.The projection of a shortage of more than 10 million skilled workers by 2020 could be high, given that the Bureau of Labor Statistics said there are only 14.4 million manufacturing jobs in the U.S. today.
But there is a shortage, and it's getting worse as older workers retire and fewer young people are willing to take their place on the factory floor.
Role of education Parents and teachers are partly to blame for the shortage of skilled workers, said Phyllis Eisen, vice president of the Manufacturing Institute, the research and education arm of the National Association of Manufacturers. They have promoted four-year college degrees as the key to success, even if those degrees are not well connected with current employment trends, Eisen said.
The association has launched a $2.5 million pilot program in Kansas City, Mo., in which companies are promoting technical jobs. Similar programs are coming this year in Houston, Omaha, Neb., and Texas.
Milwaukee could organize a similar effort, Eisen said.
"But it needs to be promoted as economic development rather than education," she said. "Otherwise, no one will pay attention to it."
Eisen, who taught high school social studies for more than a decade, said manufacturers should try to get their message out to young people any way they can, and not rely on the schools to do it for them.
"We have got to tell kids that if they take advanced math classes, they can do something cool, like work with robots," she said.
Sounds like a lot of corporate whining to me.
If you have those skills, able to sit walk and stand and don't have a felony record you will likely be hired. (Unless you hit on the HR person. Don't do that. :)
If you can manage to show up on time and on a consistent basis you will be set for life.
No! Say it ain't so!
The free traitors will start running around, grasping themselves Michael Jackson style, and moaning about not getting lower prices for consumers!
Where are these jobs at? I could use one.
Or better yet, take the money that you would have used to send them to college and use it for a down payment with an SBA loan to buy an established profitable business that they can manage.
The profits are used to repay the SBA loan and for their living expenses. After they have repaid the SBA loan in five years sign the business over to them and let them decide what type of education they want to pursue.
Skills heck! I'd just be grateful to find employees with a work ethic.
I just hired a guy at a good salary as an Operations Manager through an employment agency and he lasted less than 2 weeks. He was here nine working days and during that time he left early 3 days and took 4 days off. After I fired him, I got a nasty email from his girl-friend saying that our job had interfered with their "life together!"
I didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. It took ALL my self control to keep from writing an angry email back.
"By 2020, the shortage could be more than 10 million workers..."
Not to worry. The borders will still be open and all job openings will be filled by those just doing the manufacturing jobs that Americans refuse to do. /sarcasm
A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Hey, they may be short on math, science and technological aptitude, but they have *lots* of self-esteem and multicultural sensitivity.
How many profitable buinesses can survive the inexperience of someone just out of high school? When I look at the business broker listings most of what's for sale is auto repair, hair salons, and dry cleaners. Not something most young people would find interesting. Most young people are better off getting experience working for someone else. The really exceptional ones start their own businesses.
productivity ping
With all due respect, anyone who has been sitting around for a year and a half wondering where the jobs are, really hasn't been looking.
Do you expect the job to come to you?
Who do you think makes the robots?
Have you tried the auto manufacturing plants? Lot of expansion there. Toyota is opening a big new plant in San Antonio next year.
I've been there many times. I'd of hired anyone above room temperature.
A person who shows up on time every day sober and just tries to do what he is trained to do has all the job security anyone could ever hope for.
I was just talking to a college buddy of mine who manages a warehouse in Memphis, TN. He said that they were having a very difficult time keeping staffed. Although the jobs pay well, it is hard work and involves lots of heavy lifting. Turnover is atrocious.
Who says I have been sitting around? I have applied for hundreds of jobs, the first question is what degree do I have? I also get the I'm over qualified speech. So I am back in college now.
Yes, and they know how to put a condom on a cucumber too. Surely that must count for something.
Apparently the jobs don't pay well enough because the workers don't think it's worth it and leave.
In business-labor relations, you truly reap what you sow.
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