Manufacturing Is Not Dead Yet

The rumors of the death of manufacturing in the United States are greatly exaggerated. If I had a dollar for every time I heard, or read, “we just don’t make anything anymore”, I could open a second factory in pretty short order! Why? Simple, it’s just not true. I have been in manufacturing for 35 years and I see just the opposite even during this economic funk we are currently in. I know of many companies that I do business with that are doing just fine. In fact the biggest barrier we are seeing is a lack of qualified people to fill skilled positions in a variety of disciplines. These include general factory positions like machine operators, assemblers, and set-up men/women. Even harder to find, are higher level personnel, which include technicians, engineers, and toolmakers/machinists.
With unemployment near 8%, one has to wonder where all the good workers have gone. Why are we struggling to find qualified people to fill our open positions?
There are many factors that contribute to the lack of qualified workers. Even in times of high unemployment, factory work is looked upon by many to be demeaning. With the bigger emphasis being place on young adults to get a collage education, factory work, in particular, entry level positions are considered second class jobs.
Many technical training institutions have closed, or greatly reduced their class sizes due to lack of new student enrollment. The Tool and Die / Machinist profession has seen a large decline in apprenticeship program enrollment. Many machine shops have stopped sponsoring students due to lack of interest. Most apprenticeships last 3 to 4 years that require both classroom and on the job training. For many young adults who do not consider collage as the next step in their education, a trade school or an entry level factory job would be a logical choice. Many positions pay well and offer a good learning environment.
The retirement of the Baby Boomer generation continues to escalate. Many Boomers were skilled in a wide variety of trades. We simply do not see as many young adults applying for work related to manufacturing to fill this void.
For the United States to continue to be a dominant force in manufacturing we must find viable ways to solve our worker shortage. Beginning at the High School level, we need to put a higher emphasis on all trades that are manufacturing related.