An Abundance of Higher Skilled Manufacturing Jobs?

According to this, there are good jobs "for workers with the necessary math, computer and mechanical abilities":

Factory Shift: Manufacturers Struggle to Fill Highly Paid Jobs, by Molly Hennessy-Fiske, LA Times: Daniel McGee's parents were apprehensive when their son turned his back on the four-year college degree they always assumed he would earn. They figured a bachelor's degree was the key to success in the modern economy... But as McGee saw it, his future lay in ... metalworking. And to succeed, he would have to do something that would shock many parents: ... study machine-tool technology at a two-year technical college.

McGee, 21, realized what many American workers are missing: Manufacturing, long known for plant closings and layoffs, is now clamoring for workers to fill high-paying, skilled jobs. While millions of manufacturing jobs have been outsourced or automated out of existence during the past decade, many of the remaining jobs require higher skills and pay well — $50,000 to $80,000 a year for workers with the necessary math, computer and mechanical abilities.

Some manufacturers are so desperate for workers who can program, run or repair the computers and robots that now dominate the factory floor that they are offering recruitment bonuses, relocation packages and other incentives more common to white-collar jobs.

In Ohio, American Micro Products Inc., an electrical parts maker, is offering $1,000 bonuses to workers who recruit technicians, and it is covering moving costs for the new employees. In San Antonio, Toyota cannot find enough qualified applicants for skilled positions at its new plant, even after the state sponsored a training program. In Fontana, California Steel Industries Inc. found it so hard to fill five mechanical and technical positions, some paying $28 an hour, that managers started paying employees to train for the unfilled jobs.

About 90% of manufacturers say they are having trouble filling skilled jobs such as machinists and technicians, according to a survey ... of ... 12,000 manufacturers. Of those manufacturers, 83% said the shortage of skilled workers affected their ability to serve customers. ...

One of the biggest barriers to hiring young workers like McGee is manufacturing's reputation as dirty, low-paid and monotonous work. But McGee said he likes mechanical work ... — and was bored by the thought of liberal arts classes without real-world applications. ...

At first, McGee's decision was tough for his parents to accept. Although Mike McGee, 49, is an academic dean at the community college his son attends, he still had visions of manufacturing work that involved "a blue-collar, tattoo on the arm, drink beer after the shift — not the kind of career for my son."

What changed his mind was seeing his son hired by E.J. Ajax & Sons Inc... In addition to tuition and a $14-an-hour apprenticeship, the company is providing McGee with health insurance, a 401(k) and, once his training is complete, a salary of $58,240 a year. That's more than his college-educated brother earns at an advertising job that took him two years to find. ...

The average industrial technician earned $54,643 last year... By comparison, median earnings for all full-time U.S. workers last year were under $34,000. Yet surveys show American youth see manufacturing as a low-paying career track they would rather avoid. ...

In addition to their image problem, manufacturers are having trouble finding skilled workers because older workers with the proper training are retiring in large numbers. And many assembly workers who were laid off in recent years are unwilling to return to manufacturing or unable to upgrade their math skills...

Some companies say they are willing to pay to retrain workers, but that the community college programs they once relied on have been eliminated. ...

When Toyota announced plans to open a new plant with 2,000 jobs in San Antonio, it received 100,000 applications from people eager to work. But for the 200 technician positions that required higher skills, the automaker had trouble finding applicants... Eventually, Toyota hired about 120 skilled workers, mostly by recruiting them from other manufacturers... That helped Toyota, ... but it also shifted the problem of finding skilled workers onto the companies whose employees had been lured away...

During the past five years, Daniel McGee's employer, E.J. Ajax & Sons, has paid for training for all 50 of its workers, owner Erick Ajax said. But Ajax expects half the workforce to retire in the next 15 years and is having trouble finding replacements.

That is why Ajax wants to hold on to McGee. Ajax recently offered the young apprentice an additional incentive: If McGee enrolls in the manufacturing technology program to earn a bachelor's degree at the University of Minnesota, Ajax will pay his tuition.

This time, McGee says, he plans to accept the scholarship and earn the four-year degree he initially spurned. ...

Comments

[NinjaPlease]

"When Toyota announced plans to open a new plant with 2,000 jobs in San Antonio, it received 100,000 applications from people eager to work."

Tell me again that there's no shortage of jobs and that the unemployment rate is low.

[Bruce Webb]

$1000 recruiting bonuses, relocation expenses, tuition assistance?

Man those use to be standard parts of the package. My Dad was a former mid-manager at an electronic company. When they hired him back in 1973 the company paid for us to relocate and picked up our hotel bill while we looked for a house. 1973 was a repression year.

That these kind of benefits are considered evidence of abundance of jobs is just proof of how low we have sunk. I am starting a new job in one hour and fifteen minutes. At right about the pay range being discussed here, Is that proof that jobs are going vacant around here? That employers are desparate? No it just happened that my particular skill set ran into a need for that exact skill set, the job ended up coming to me at the perfect time.

That skilled workers get paid a premium based on skills says nothing about job abundance. Crane operators are the top paid workers in construction, and that is true whether or not the industry is surging or depressing.

[save the rustbelt]

There are plenty of skilled manufactuirng workers available.

Most are over 40 and have belonged to a union during their career, so are "ineligible" to be hired in the "new economy."

[save the rustbelt]

According to the National Association of Manufacturers, parents and guidance counselors are telling young people to avoid manufacturing, because of the likelihood of layoffs and offshoring.

If you read everything on the NAM website, their position is something like "sure we have been destroying jobs, but you have to think about our (company's) future."

Great sales pitch.

[jamzo]

it is a long standing practice of some manufactureing sectors to claim shortages of "skilled workers" - these claims are usually accompanied by requests for visas for foreign workers

[save the rustbelt]

I see Typepad is still acting up.

Hit the Post arrow only once, wait ten seconds, hit the back arrow on your browser. It works.

[save the rustbelt]

Bruce:

Good luck with the new position.

[Holly W.]

In Fontana, California Steel Industries Inc. found it so hard to fill five mechanical and technical positions, some paying $28 an hour, that managers started paying employees to train for the unfilled jobs.

Gee, what a novel idea, training employees you already have for the next step up!

[cm]

Seed corn.

[Blissex]

Such news are basically happenstance, as well as what other commenters have pointed out.

If there are very few jobs for skills X, and very few workers with skill X, small absolute differences between supply and demand are large percentage differences.

This has happened in every industry, even IT: for example there are fairly few mainframe jobs and workers left, and if there is a shortage of workers employers are desperate and complain loudly (as in the Y2000 story), and if there is a surplus the surplus workers end up as cleaners, so nobody notices.

Also, in the particular case of manufacturing technicians, there is a specific and temporary situation: Boeing is hiring strongly, and this has put the squeeze on all other employers of skilled technicians.

However interesting news as to the job market for graduates, never mind for car line workers or line technicians (my emphasis added):

«a salary of
$58,240 a year. That's more than his college-educated brother earns at an advertising job that took him two years to find.»

Also note that the ''lucky'' brother being trained and promised a salary by the manufacturer of course has no job security: when his employer decides to offshore that lines of products, or goes under, the ''lucky'' brother will have high but unsellable skills (unless Boeing is still hiring by then).

The doubling in numbers of the globally tradable workforce has made jobs a scarce, hard to find asset in the G7 too.

[me]

"About 90% of manufacturers say they are having trouble filling skilled jobs"

Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, Bill Gates, Palmisanno, now I remember. They fired or offshored so many people there are none left to hire.

[Lord]

managers started paying employees to train for the unfilled jobs

Now that is a sign of real desparation. ROTFL

1973 was a repression year.

Aren't they all?

[dryfly]

I know a little about the story since I'm (1) in mfg support - sales and (2) live in Minnesota where the story takes place. Plus I've actually worked factory floors in the region as an engineer & a grunt, actually know the company mentioned.

::::::::::

First of all - MN does have some of the best tech school & community college training set ups around and they are pretty cheap & flexible - for residents anyway.

Some actually allow you to work at your own pace at hours you choose. I've actually taken classes at one of them (I believe it's the same place the McGee kid is going). I was a degreed engineer but wanted hands-on in a couple areas I was short (CNC machining & CMM metrology)... I was able to get everything I needed at night... but had the day worked better could've done it then too.

And there really are jobs in these 'pinnacle skills' areas... but no where near enough for our whole population. Nor is this the stuff for dunces. It used to be 'smart kids' went to college and the others went into tech.

Well I've taken some of those 'tech classes' (see above) and also gone to college and taken liberal arts, 'pure science' and engineering classes... plus I have an MS in Mfg System - sort of like a hybrid between MBA & MS Engineering.

Guess what? Those tech classes & topics were every bit as challenging as any of the college courses I took. Those topics require high level thinking, an ability to synthesis multiple topics & plan ahead.

The days when tech was strong-back-weak-mind are long gone.

So even if we make a big push to improve training & accessibility to this area... (1) the kids who struggled with college prep are still going to struggle with the new tech UNLESS their more fundamental learning problems are addressed first and (2) there still aren't that many jobs - it is only a partial solution for a small segment of the population.

In the plant in Texas they wanted 200 techs out of the 2000 or so they hired... out of 100,000 applicants. That tells about all you need to know.

Lastly - on company paid job training... the story about sending the kid from the factory to U of MN is not BS. That happens around here quite a lot IF you can get in with the right companies... but it isn't easy to do, my son is trying like crazy to get into something like that.

Right now people are moving into the Twin Cities from all over the region - from as far away as Montana & Northern Michigan and Missouri - to try and get into programs like that. As a result most don't - they end up in McJobs like everywhere else. Ask my boy.

But if they do get in - its for real. This has gone on for a long time too - back in the 70s I went through engineering school with a half dozen guys who worked for 3M as techs on second shift & took classes in Chem Eng at Minnesota during the day. I even knew a PhD student who was doing the same.

When these guys got done a couple stayed on with 3M as engineers but a couple of the others left the company (not enough positions for all of them). Although they were average students, they got offers that dwarfed even the top 4.0 students w/ 'internships'. Internships are nice but nothing like working a real job - with real responsibilities - prior to graduation.

So in summary - this is a nice little story and at least 'half true' - the rest isn't a lie, just left untold. But it shows that there is a glimmer of hope out there... but it doesn't address the whole scope of the problem (what do we do with those who can't get in) and most places do not have these kinds of resources available to them anyway.

BTW - the factories most of these folks work in are as clean & safe as most offices. We aren't talking sand foundries, steel mills or weld shops. In fact many of the factories in the Twin Cities area feed components into the local med device industry and are CLEANER by a couple 2-3 orders of magnitude than the offices that support them.

As to Blissex's post about 'offshoring' - while many lose their jobs in such events... the guys with the 'pinnacle skills' rarely do. Instead they are the 'non-exec' types you see in airports heading off routinely to Mexico, China, India.

And the ratios are about the same as the Toyota plant but in reverse... 2000 laid off and 200 kept on to support the offshore operations & manage the logistics & technology transfer. One would think once the technology is transfered they shutdown/layoff that part too but most firms have even bigger problems getting tech in China, India, wherever... so the guys supporting the plant never seem to go out of demand.

I have friends that do that - spend half their time in Asia & half their time in the US. And 'no' - they don't get paid more.

It's far messier than the article portrays. But nice post just the same, Mark.

[save the rustbelt]

Neither NAM or the government has addressed the job security issue. NAM knows it is real because the participants in their research surveys talk about job losses and offshoring pretty consistently.

So why do I want to be trained for a job with no security?

If I am a nurse I know I have a hands-on job.

If I run a bulldozer I know that cannot be done from Asia (until the robots eliminate all of us, but that will be a while).

I can't think of too many manufacturing jobs that cannot be offshored, excepting some final assembly and those too builky or problematic to ship, or really low end stuff (the Twinkie bakery).

[Blissex]

«As to Blissex's post about 'offshoring' - while many lose their jobs in such events... the guys with the 'pinnacle skills' rarely do. Instead they are the 'non-exec' types you see in airports heading off routinely to Mexico, China, India.»

Ah sure, in the short term if it is individual businesses that reallocate.

But what if the whole industry disappears? There surely were highly skilled technical people in shipbuilding, before it disappeared to Japan and Korea, and after their shipyards closed down they managed to get jobs abroad consulting for foreign shipyards. But it is not a long term future. If they are 55-60 this might carry them into retirement, else tough.

[donna]

I would think this kind of training provides a good base to do many different things. I had a similar gig in computer science back in the day at Honeywell. Once you leanr a skill, there's not much trouble applying that knowledge or transfering that kind of learning and skill to other areas.

The problem is the one mentioned by the commenters - what guarantee is there that company or industry will stay in the U.S.? Are we all supposed to become migrant workers, following our industry from country to country? I don't think so.

High tech and manufacturing is going the way so many other industries have - after the cheaper labor elsewhere. To stay "competitive", of course. Well, workers in those countries learn and form their own companies, and soon, American companies aren't so competitive anymore.

The costs of outsourcing are higher than we may yet realize, as entire industries move to other countries. My husband now works for a Japanese company, and is paid well enough and taken car eof well enough for me to be semi-retired. We have it good. But, our kids are just starting out. I sent this article along to my son to consider, since he's very bright but not very focused yet at 20. I worry A LOT that there aren't going to be jobs for my kids here, and wonder where they will end up. Youngest speaks excellent German, so would do well overseas. I guess we'll see if this country can provide enough promise to keep them here, as bright and talented as they are. At least this article gave me a spark of hope, but the comments kind of dimmed that a bit.

I guess we'll see if good jobs in this country end up being as important as tax cuts for the wealthy and pouring money into a dry hole in Iraq.

[Blissex]

«Once you leanr a skill, there's not much trouble applying that knowledge or transfering that kind of learning and skill to other areas.»

Indeed, but employers avoid hiring mere capabilities: usually they hire on a perfect match between offered job description and current job description.

Because they are ''in search of excellence'', and because whoever is responsible for the hiring as a rule minimizes risk to himself by not hiring rather than hiring, and then by not hiring someone who is good but is not a perfect fit vs. hiring someone who is a perfect fit on paper but does not perform well.

«Are we all supposed to become migrant workers, following our industry from country to country? I don't think so.»

But surely yes -- this is what has happened between states within the USA for a couple of centuries. Now the same game is happening among countries. Just as some people packed up and left Europe to find better jobs in New England, and later packed up and went to California when things were bad in the plains, some people are already packing up and going to Bangalore when things are bad in the silicon valleys.

«The costs of outsourcing are higher than we may yet realize, as entire industries move to other countries.»

But this has happened before, when a lot of manufacturing moved offshore. But not many took notice because while the workers affected were screwed, their children could move into new industries which were simply not affordable by the newly industrializing countries.

When shipbuilding moved to Japan and then Korea those countries did not have the resources at the time to compete in software and electronics, because their ''advanced'' sectors were small in absolute terms, just as not all the USA is like Silicon Valley.

Nobody today much is complaining about offshoring to Indonesia, because Indonesia at best does sneakers, and who cares about jobs at sneaker factories. And Indonesia's resources for higher value industry are minuscule.

Now overall India and China are like Indonesia, but because they are so big even the small percentage of their population and economy that is ''advanced'' is big with respect to that of the USA, so they can compete straight with the top of USA industry. No international division of labor there, but direct competition at the top end of the scale.

This has roughly doubled the pool of labor in the high-tech industry, and has not yet doubled the pool of employers. Bad news except for employers.

«I worry A LOT that there aren't going to be jobs for my kids here, and wonder where they will end up.»

The problem with your 20yo kids is timing: when they enter the job market matters a great deal in the long term.

Anyhow don't worry about your kids having some job, even if Say's Law is not quite true.

What happens is that in situations of overabundance of labor and scarcity of real jobs, underemployment is the result: people getting hired in non-jobs or unnecessary jobs.

Typically these non-jobs are staying at home with parents (the european solution) while doing ''cool stuff'' and (direct or indirect) house service, which can absorb practically any number of otherwise idle people. As recently as the 1940s something like 10% of the british workforce was in house service...

[dryfly]

Blissex & Donna - the 'Pinnacle Skill' people this article highlights do tend to land on their feet... if defense crashes they move into civilian aerospace... if civilian aerospace is crashing they move into computers... if computers crash they move into biomedical devices... etc.

In that respect their skills are transferable. I've seen this over and over in the 30 years I've been working.

The PROBLEM is not everyone can be 'pinnicle'... by definition only a few can be... and it is always a moving target. The basic skills transfer but there is always something a little different, something new to master.

So this story only applies to a few and even they have to be constantly running to stay in place.

But the article implies it is applicable to a large set of workers, that we can all be like that if only we try... they don't say that but it is clearly there, between the lines and THAT in my opinion is where the half truth lies. The Texas Toyota plant numbers tell the real story... 200 techs, 2000 total workers and 100,000 applications. Bingo.

[Blissex]

«The Texas Toyota plant numbers tell the real story... 200 techs, 2000 total workers and 100,000 applications.»

A bit of that is also application spamming, but I was surprised by the modest 50:1 ratio between applicants and jobs. In IT it is more usually 300 to 500 applications per job.

But another sign of the times is that the plant is in Texas, not Michigan (or even Georgia).

I suspect that 'save_the_rustbelt's point:

«Most are over 40 and have belonged to a union during their career, so are "ineligible" to be hired in the "new economy."»

applies to whole states, not just individual workers.

[quiz]

American corporations have made a pact with China inc. to divvy up the American market. China Inc takes the jobs and the corporations take the profit margin. The American consumer happily obliges by borrowing to increase their spending by borrowing. The government and Fed think the arrangement is wonderful and they support it.

Job security is a thing of the past. The tech industry is in the latter stages of the transition. The "we'll take the jobs group" are now taking the profits too.

Manufacturing is a dying industry, like mining. All positions are risky. Yound people should consider carefully what they are doing. There are plenty of older workers who can fill these short term positions just fine. The corps just don't want to hire anyone over 30.

[dryfly]

Blissex - interesting enough, the NEXT plant Toyota plans to build in NAFTA Zone, after the Texas plant, is to go in Canada. There were a bunch of states bidding for it & Toyota chose Ontario over the whole lot.

2nd Toyota plant for Canada, president says

No shortages of unions there I can assure you.

Skilled workforce & single payer health care and probably 'currency advantages' all played a role - from the unofficial scuttle butt I've read - won't find that as an 'official' reason anywhere though, I'd guess.

So maybe there's more to it than JUST cheap labor. If states want to buy those Toyota jobs they better open their wallets & up the ante... else they just might go north.

[Blissex]

«after the Texas plant, is to go in Canada»

Well, Detroit carmakers have been nearshoring to Canada too for decades, but this new Toyota plant surprises me a bit, because I would have expected all new car factories in North America to be either in the USA south/southwest or in Mexico.

«No shortages of unions there I can assure you. [ ... ] won't find that as an 'official' reason anywhere though, I'd guess. So maybe there's more to it than JUST cheap labor.»

Well it is cheap labor and power over the workforce. The role of unions is not just to raise wages, but to give power to workers as a coalition. That is the long term threat.

«If states want to buy those Toyota jobs they better open their wallets & up the ante...»

I suspect too that a large part of it may be really really large subsidies, which offset (along with the other advantages you mention) the costs and nuisance of unions.

IIRC Quebec has been attracting videogame companies by offering to pay for about 40% (yes, fortypercent) of the salary of most employees for quite a long time.

Still I wonder why Ontario and not Ohio and Michigan. Perhaps their state governments have become too poor to afford the subsidies.

[Becky]

Skilled workers are many everywhere. The problem is that for those well-paid jobs mentioned they cannot be hired because the requirements are not for a simple manufacturer. They are higher. I do not understand why a manufacturer should now computer notions. There are needed two peoples here: a worker and a programmer. And they should be paid only for their qualifications.

[thebizofknowledge]

Mmmmmm...I have friends, IT people, laid off after 9/11, with math degrees, who have desperately settled for low-paying, enegy-assistance type of jobs (some in manufacturing). These people fit the bill. They have the qualifications. In some instances they're not only over 40, but over 50 but in great health.....

[CJ Forgus]

I get so tired of seeing these types of articles saying there are so many jobs and not enough skilled people to fill them. Where are all these jobs?

I live in Cleveland, Ohio - my husband worked in a factory for 22 years, the company sold and the factory closed in 2002 and all the jobs were moved to Vermont. Unemployment sent him to a community college to train for CNC, they paid the tuition. It was a tough class, and he studied for hours and he did very well. The school provided no help in finding him a job, Ohio's unemployment office is completely useless, so now he works for an industrial painter, which he likes, but he really wanted to get a job that he knows he can do for the next 20 years. We don't know how many more years he'll be able to physically do this work.

In Ohio, we hear nothing about all the jobs out in the rest of the country that are going unfilled. All we hear about are the millions of unemployed factory guys here. And now Ford is going to put another 6,000 Ohio people out of work.

Someone please tell me where a someone that shows up every single day, and gives his all, that has gone through a CNC class, can get a decent job. I have my own accounting business which does very well, and I can work anywhere so we're willing to move. And if you tell me, I'll bet I could find about 100,000 more guys just like him to come with us.

[anne]

CJ Forqus, agreed.

[dryfly]

CJ Forqus - I can make a few recommendations.

(1) Look outside large metro areas.

(2) Try smaller companies that have been growing.

In both cases skills shortages are an issue.

I'm a sales rep & call on all kinds of companies... One company I call on hires people like your husband all the time. They are up in Northern Minnesota - it is full of guys who used to work at Cummins, Dana, Eaton, etc. The pay is less than city wages but so is the cost of living. They traded in their suburban ranches for lake homes at about the same overall standard of living.

I see companies like this all over northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc. The local job market is FULL of low skill or no skill workers but it always lacks competent welders, CNC machinists, tool builders & instrument maintenance & set up people.

The way you find these companies is to go to a GOOD reference library and ask for the 'Directory of Manufacturers' for a state you are interested in... Come armed with a good Rand McNally then look up compamies by area (usually town or county) then also by industry (go by SIC codes... for your husband that would probably be 33xx-35xx... fabricated metals & manufacturing). Look for smallish to medium sized firms... 20 employees to a couple hundred.

Once you have a company list - call them directly, ask the receptionist who does the hiring & ask to talk to them... unlike large city HR they will likely talk to you, send them a nice cover letter & resume, follow up about once every 2-3 months).

Frequently they won't consider you unless you have politely contacted them a few times - people always say they'll move to boondocks but rarely do. Rural folks get burned enough that they won't take you serious unless you prove you really are.

I've seen this done MANY times. Have friends that have done it. Its not for everyone but it is one answer.

Hope this helps.

[thebizofknowledge]

I have to admit I was rather amazed that employers are having such a hard time finding workers for skilled manufacturing positions. I know that many of these jobs pay very well in comparison to other occupations. Perhaps it is the perception of these jobs as too "blue collar" that is driving the young into looking elsewhere.