‘It’s Not Your Father’s Factory Anymore’

Much has been said about the 600,000 “missing” skilled workers that are in dire need by the U.S. manufacturing industry. The number is primarily based on an October 2011 survey of manufacturing company executives conducted by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute. It has been quoted, cited and rephrased in forums ranging from print media, Internet postings, broadcast news and the 2012 presidential debates. Regardless of the accuracy of the number, nearly all manufacturers I deal with agree that it is a problem they are dealing with daily. So how did we get here and how do we collectively go about solving the problem? For the better part of a decade, manufacturing companies where I have worked, and companies I have worked with, have consistently cut back on discretionary spending in order to remain globally competitive and weather the economic crisis. I understand this. Unfortunately, for a vast majority of companies, those discretionary expenses included budgets for items like general employee training, internships, apprenticeships and the like. I understand that as well, but am not in total agreement with the soundness of the logic – except in the direst of situations. At the same time, manufacturers made a dramatic shift from hiring a small percentage of new employees in entry-level positions to almost exclusively requiring three to five years of experience for even the most junior of positions. This “only experienced candidates need apply” mindset represents a significant challenge to launching the next generation of manufacturing workers into a lifetime manufacturing career path. Another aspect to the challenge starts earlier in the lives of the future manufacturing work force and is represented by a lack of effort to attract America’s youth to career paths in manufacturing. These career path decisions are significantly impacted by three Ps: Parents, Perception and Pay. Parents understandably want their children to go to college and pursue four-year degrees as countless studies show higher learning results in higher earning. Yet they ignore the fact that career paths facilitated by college degrees do not suit all individuals equally well. In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the 2011 graduation rate for full-time students who began their pursuit of a bachelor’s degree at a four-year degree-granting institution in fall 2005 was only 59 percent. Additionally, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 30.4 percent of adults age 25 or older hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. How can we provide meaningful, rewarding careers to the other 69.6 percent? Regarding public perception of the manufacturing industry, I offer the phrase: “It’s not your father’s factory anymore.” Instead of the stereotypical dark, dingy and dirty manufacturing floors, a vast majority of today’s manufacturing floors are spotless. In fact, a significant portion of work on the floors of Southern California’s electronics, biomedical and aerospace companies is performed in so-called clean room settings that eliminate 99 percent of contaminates than are present in the typical urban environment. So let’s dispel the outdated dirty manufacturing stereotype. Lastly let’s look at the third P: Pay. It’s as simple as understanding the basic economic theory of supply and demand. Simply put, individuals will seek out career paths that offer the best wages. In other words, they will train to supply their labor to in-demand occupations that offer the best price (wages). In an environment characterized by a low supply of skilled labor, economics would dictate that prices must rise. Yet according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as the number of skilled manufacturing workers has decreased over the past decade, so has their wage rates. This is an area where the pay practices of manufacturing companies are helping to create the skills shortage, in part, due to their need to be globally competitive on the price of their goods. Are you beginning to see the perfect storm developing? How does an industry hire the skilled employees it needs when the entry of new talent is constrained by their own hiring practices and the three Ps? Enter a few more of the Ps: Promoting, Partnering and Productivity. If you are part of the Southern California manufacturing industry, start working with the business associations you are involved with to promote manufacturing as an attractive career path. Partner with any of the 112 community colleges in the state of California or other organizations to assure they are delivering the training and education your company needs to be globally competitive. You can also partner with your local elementary and junior high schools to get our youth excited about careers in manufacturing early in their lives. Then share some of the efficiency savings of a well-trained and highly productive work force in the form of an entry level pay that will help attract new talent to manufacturing. If you are part of the manufacturing industry, the most important thing you can do is to get involved with some part of the solution to the skilled worker shortage. Remember the phrase: “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” Be part of the solution. Joe Klocko is a former aerospace executive and director of the Center for Applied Competitive Technologies, hosted by College of the Canyons. The center provides worker training in computer-aided manufacturing and is introducing 3-D manufacturing technology to regional companies.