Although the United States has lost millions of manufacturing jobs to countries like China, there are still well paying, job opportunities for skilled workers in the manufacturing sector right here. In a study on the issue, the United States Labor department reported that too few young people consider manufacturing careers and often are unaware of the job skills needed in the more advanced manufacturing environments. As more and more baby boomers retire, the problem is expected to accelerate and many fear these well paying jobs will remain unfilled.

Some states, schools and businesses are collaborating to address this shortfall in skilled workers, directly through vocational training and workforce development programs.

State of Wisconsin

Wisconsin governor, Jim Doyle, announced tax credits for manufacturing businesses under the “Next Generation Manufacturing” program. This Next Generation Manufacturing program will consolidate existing tax credit programs into an $85 million tax credit program to assist companies creating jobs and training workers to develop the Wisconsin skilled labor pool. The goal of the program is to create 5,000 new manufacturing jobs and to train 4,000 skills workers for existing jobs in Wisconsin.

Northwest-Shoals Community College in Alabama

Enrollment at Northwest-Shoals Community College in Alabama has increased 3 percent over the last year to 3,250 students. The president of the college, Humphrey Lee, attributes the increase to three factors: distance education, the welding program and the machine tool technology program where enrollment is up 50 percent. A Canadian company, North Alabama Corporation, that builds railcars is a major employer of skilled workers in the region and needs welders and machinists.

Hamill Manufacturing

In a 2007 survey from the National Association of Manufacturers, 20% of small to medium manufactures cited retaining or training skilled workers as their primary concern. One manufacturer feeling the effects is precision parts maker Hamill Manufacturing, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This maker of high end parts for military helicopters and nuclear submarines currently has machines without skilled operators. In a story for Reuters, John Dalrymple, president of Hamill, says the factory working under capacity is not the result of a shortage of business, in fact he has more orders than the company can fill. Instead the machines have no operators because of a shortage of skilled workers.

Hamill Manufacturing invests an average of $120,000 per apprentice to try and train the qualified skilled workforce they need.

Keep in mind that there is still general decline in the low skilled manufacturing sector in the US. Job seekers, who are considering careers in the sector, must do the needed research to find the pockets of growth and specific niche areas where skilled workers are still very much in demand.

By: Marcia C Robinson