Posts Tagged ‘skilled labor shortage’

Taking control of training efforts

January 25th, 2013
By: Dan Davis

A&E Custom Manufacturing, Kansas City, Kan., isn't much different from other metal fabricators today. It is looking for the right skilled employees.

"If we could find the people, we would probably add four to five employees," said John Jaixen, A&E's general manager, in December. Specifically, he would bring on talented welders for the second shift and inventory help—if he could find the right people.

Needless to say, A&E isn't alone. In October 2012 the Boston Consulting Group issued a report saying that manufacturing companies had 80,000 to 100,000 open positions for skilled workers. That's dwarfed by the 600,000 openings cited in a 2011 survey from Deloitte Consulting and The Manufacturing Institute. Sure, that's a big disparity, but the fact is that the current manufacturing workforce isn't getting any younger; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the average age of manufacturing workers in the U.S. at 56. (more...)

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Opportunities worth trumpeting

October 15th, 2012
By: Tim Heston

We all know wage growth in this country is next to nothing. It’s one reason why the presidential election season has been so contentious. Employees continue to work harder than ever, while employers hesitate to hire more.

But metal fabricators and other manufacturers have another problem: Some would like to hire more, but they can’t find the skilled talent they need. It’s been this way for years, of course, and politicians know this, which is why legislatures and government administrators are launching programs like the  Right Skills Now initiative to address the problem.

If skills are in high demand, many assume that higher pay would follow that demand, and to some extent it has, as reported by the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association’s Salary/Wage & Benefit Survey. A code-level welder’s (one certified to certain industry codes) average salary has risen more than 3 percent since 2010--not very impressive, but the growth isn’t nonexistent, as so many people have experienced since the recession.

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A skilled-labor crisis, or crisis of character?

September 19th, 2012
By: Tim Heston

The Chicago teacher’s strike has a silver lining. It has gotten us talking about problems in education. These are problems metal fabricators are all too familiar with, thanks to the ongoing skilled labor crisis. Last weekend This American Life aired a show that asked a question that’s so basic it’s a little embarrassing that we have to ask it: What do our children really need to know to succeed?

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Manufacturing and U.S. competitiveness

June 13th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

You may have read or heard something today about how the world views the U.S. The Pew Research Center has released its Global Attitudes Survey findings, and pundits have been quick to jump on and analyze the results, particularly as they relate to this year’s presidential contest and the two main candidates’ interpretations of where things stand. 

Among the coverage is an article attributed to Bruce Stokes, director of the Pew Research Center’s Global Economic Attitudes and published on cnn.com. Stokes presents the findings as they stack up to claims by both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney about America’s world standing. He conjectures that both are right and both are wrong.

I’ll leave it to you to read the article to learn about Obama’s and Romney’s views and decide for yourself who is more right (if it’s possible to be more right). What I want to focus on is the portion of the report that deals with the worldview of U.S. competitiveness. (more...)

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Posted in Global Marketplace, International, Shop Soapbox | 1 Comment »

The great asset of a graying manufacturing work force

May 8th, 2012
By: Tim Heston

Earlier this week I spoke with Frederick Hartman at Needham, Mass.-based Vita Needle, a company unique in several respects. The metal fabricator allowed Caitrin Lynch, associate professor of anthropology at the Olin College of Engineering, also in Needham, to spend five years at the stainless steel tubing and needle manufacturer.

Oh, and one more thing: The median age of the Vita Needle employee is 73.

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'Skilled labor standing right here, willing to relocate!'

February 7th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

The January "Fabricating Update" included statistics and comments from the e-newsletter's recent survey about fabricator concerns. Some of the comments focused on the lack of skilled labor, an oft-cited concern in the fabricating industry and manufacturing as a whole. 

This information garnered even more comments, such as a very thoughtful response from Todd, an Alabama reader whose signature included the aka: Skilled labor standing right here, willing to relocate!

Todd's response chronicles his experience as a skilled craftsman, paints a picture of what is happening in his part of the country, and raises a valid point about why employers might be having such a difficult time attracting qualified workers. (more...)

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Posted in Manager's Desk, Shop Soapbox, Training and Retention | 15 Comments »

The skilled worker’s pursuit of happiness

July 5th, 2011
By: Tim Heston

This week’s pomp, sparkle, and pyrotechnics celebrated, among other things, Jefferson’s inspirational sentence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The last of these unalienable rights may drive us more than anything else. But it may also be misinterpreted. We have the right to pursue happiness, but that doesn’t make happiness itself a right. We have to go after it. We have to work for it.
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Setting up for manufacturing growth

January 17th, 2011
By: Tim Heston

Last week the federal government released a report saying exports grew for the third straight month. Despite the fact that new orders in November declined slightly, year over year new orders increased 12.3 percent from 2009 to 2010. Sure, the growth is coming off of some unprecedented lows, but the growth is significant all the same. Overall, manufacturing has been growing three times faster than the rest of the economy.

What a difference a financial crisis makes. Manufacturing is cool again.

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Posted in Industry Trends & Analysis | 1 Comment »

The fabricator's apprentice

September 29th, 2010
By: Vicki Bell

Yesterday I ran across an item about a U.K. company, Ladbrook Engineering, that has taken on its first apprentice in 20 years. In an article published on cambridgenetwork.co.uk, Ladbrook's Manufacturing Director Paul Goodman is quoted as saying, "Capable and experienced engineers are very difficult to find at the moment. In order to compete in the world, we need highly skilled toolmakers and press setters; training our own seems to be the clearest way forward for us at this time. Taking on Tom as an apprentice is an exciting start."

I agree; taking on apprentices is an exciting — and smart — start toward addressing the lack of highly skilled labor — a step that more and more companies in the U.K. appear to be taking. Perhaps U.S. companies would be wise to follow suit. (more...)

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Grabbing the skilled-labor issue by the horns

February 16th, 2010
By: Tim Heston

High unemployment has muted manufacturing’s cry for skilled workers, but the cry is still there. It’s a paradox. As manufacturers shed unskilled workers, those who are left must be more skilled and versatile than ever. According to the Labor Department, American manufacturing produces more value per worker than ever before: eight times more productive, in real dollar terms, than workers were in 1941, thanks to skills and application of technology.

Technology, though, presents a problem for those training tomorrow’s skilled labor force. When it comes to training, it’s true that shop classes are shuttered in part because of misperceptions. School leaders follow media coverage of our “service-based economy” and adjust curricula to suit. But even during the good times, this wasn’t the only reason schools shifted resources away from shop classes.

Shop class is expensive.

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