A variety of manufacturing jobs are available for those willing to work hard. Heather Burt
Companies are in need of skilled workers. Heather Burt
Manufacturing companies have the help wanted signs out, now they just need the help. Heather Burt
In late February, two dozen manufacturing CEOs visited the White House to discuss their commitment to keeping as much production as possible in the United States, a promise the new president, a vocal opponent of moving production off-shores, was happy to hear. But the CEOs raised a topic that didn’t get much coverage, one that’s vital to keeping those manufacturing jobs here: skilled people to work them.
In short, the CEOs said, many of those manufacturing jobs do still exist, but they’re becoming increasingly difficult to fill.
John Reichle, Vice President of Operations at VJ Industries, a Marine City-based CNC machining company, echoes that sentiment. Reichle’s been in the industry for four decades, and in that time, he’s seen a drastic shift in the skill sets required of workers on the floor and in the shop. Like several shops on the mainly-industrial stretch of Degurse Road in Marine City, VJ Industries has a “help wanted” sign out front, but Reichle knows it won’t be easy to find qualified people to fill the CNC lathe positions he has open.
Pay isn’t the issue, though Reichle says some new hires don’t stay in these jobs long enough to achieve the first pay bump that comes after a short probationary period. The pay is quite good, meeting or exceeding the industry standard, but while only a generation or two ago, employees wanted to stay with one company for their entire career, and work their way up the pay chain, nowadays, employees tend to jump from company to company, always in search of slightly higher pay, better hours, or other perks.
“They just tend not to stick around,” Reichle says. This rapid turnover makes it difficult to form a close, cohesive team, and, Reichle adds, it can wreak havoc on skill sets and training.
Like the CEOs at that White House meeting, Reichle points to education and training as a key issue in his ongoing search for qualified, skilled workers. Most young people head from high school to a four-year college, rather than choosing the traditional vocational training their fathers and grandfathers relied on to prepare them for well-paying, manufacturing jobs.
Research from the National Center for Education Statistics bears out this trend. Looking at high school alone, there was a nearly 10 percent decrease in students completing manufacturing-related vocational courses between 1990 and 2009, and the trend has continued across manufacturing and other skilled trades sectors, and into adulthood and secondary education, with fewer and fewer young people choosing vocational training.
The quality of the vocational training programs on offer in southeast Michigan is also a concern. Many of the programs, Reichle says, use outdated methods, programs, and equipment, so the people who complete the courses may not be prepared for a manufacturing job in a modern shop.
“The instructors seem to need a bit more real-world experience to teach the skills we’re looking for,” Reichle says. “They might have the university degrees, but that doesn’t always translate to having the experience in a shop, with current equipment, to teach the classes.” A good way to address this issue, Reichle says, is for vocational schools to invest in new equipment, and to hire instructors who have recently worked in the industry.
Reichle is confident these are problems that can be solved moving forward. In the meantime, the “help wanted” signs along Degurse Road (and elsewhere) will likely continue to mark the need for skilled manufacturing workers, their own share of the estimated 325,000 open factory jobs nationwide, nearly triple the number during the depth of the recession in 2009.
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