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. ...