CNN: $100K manufacturing jobs

[OmahaBlueDog]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- What's uncool about a $100,000 factory job? These days not much. In fact, factory jobs -- once considered back-breaking and low-paying -- have become high-tech and high-salaried.

Still young people don't get it, say factory owners, who can't find enough skilled workers.

"When I was an apprentice in the late '70s, kids were dying to get into manufacturing. There were plenty of factory jobs," said Joe Sedlak, a machinist who owns the Chesapeake Machine Company in Baltimore. "There are jobs for the taking today. But kids don't want them."

Stereotypes about factory jobs still persist. And the media isn't helping, factory owners complain.

More at: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/27/smallbusiness/youth_manufacturing_jobs/index.htm

[rfranklin]

1. Bullshit! This guy is not really hiring...

Anyone who believes that he couldn't find highly qualified applicants out of the current millions of job seekers is just plain stupid.

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. It's semi-BS

I have met machine and fab shop operators who do scream for help -- at times. A few things:

1) Few of today's jobs are your grandfathers machining jobs. In modern shops, most of the equipment is highly automated. Operators need to have a decent command of programming. In some cases, you need to have some engineering background. But oh yeah - you still need to know your way around a Bridgeport mill or a manual lathe for one-off work.

2) Many of the shops needing workers are non-Union. They are always hiring cheaper workers.

3) I think everyone is always screaming for good welders. At least in my experience. However, see point #2.

4) Of course I live where I live, so the people I meet are in my region. I do see shops that would like to hire good workers. The problem -- not everyone wants to live in places like Spencer, IA or Watertown, SD or Columbus, NE.

5) Taking the Union/Non-Union factor out for a moment, automation has made for a lot of very technical, small shops. There's nothing wrong with that, but they can't offer benefits (read: medical). Of course, the ACA could fix that for many of these business owners. Of course, many of these business owners are stalwart Obama-haters.

[Igel]

9. I've said it before.

Last spring on the way to work I'd usually pass a half dozen "for hire" signs. Many were service workers. But some were in manufacturing.

On the way to church I'd pass another 3-4, some up for a month or more. CNC machinists, mostly. One company had a job fair--it and a few others got together for that and to get a stack of applications for other kinds of jobs on file.

I kid in my high class had an accident and was out for a while. By the time he was able to come back he had no hopes of catching up. He had been in a vocational class in high school for a couple of years and could weld--whatever kind they teach in high school--but still had to take the usual academic classes. Anyway, he was talking to somebody at some store or restaurant and the guy said my student should stop by his campany. He was hired for a job, then hired full-time/non-temp. With over time, at entry level and no high school degree (just a couple of months over 18) he was making over $50k. (He found it amusing that he was making more than I did.)

Not bad. There are jobs. Not enough for everybody. A lot need training. A lot aren't advertised city-wide--just a sign on the gate lets you know you could get a job. There's variation by region. In the case of the high school kid, for all I know if the kid had called the owner and said his background he'd have been told "no," but meeting the guy informally and talking gave him the chance to offer at low risk a one-time temp gig to let the kid show his mettle.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

2. "His grandfather was a career machinist with Whirlpool"

Someone should tell the kid about Whirlpool's recently found love of Mexico.

His grandfather was a career machinist with Whirlpool. "I saw that it was a pretty stable career for him," said Lavanway. "That's why I'm keeping my options open."

Whirlpool: Mexican Workers Paid $70/Week Can't Buy Refrigerators

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010020826/whirlpool-mexican-workers-paid-70week-cant-buy-refrigerators

By Dave Johnson

February 26, 2010 - 12:25pm ET

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whirlpool is closing a plant in Evansville, Indiana, and moving the jobs to Mexico, where the workers will be paid $70 per week. Our system is broken when "the market" encourages companies like Whirlpool to close factories, destroy the lives of American workers, devastate the surrounding communities and ultimately destroy the very economy that the Whirlpools depend on.

No one getting $70 per week is going to buy any refrigerators from Whirlpool. That is the bigger picture here. When American companies close down a factory and lay off workers they are also eliminating customers. Ultimately, as we are seeing, the economy breaks down.

[Mopar151]

3. Take a look at Craigslist

And see what entry level manufacturing jobs pay.

[erpowers]

5. Article Title Misleading

The article title is at least a little misleading. Some would say it is a prime example of read the fine print.

First, the entry-level pay for the job is not $100,000. The entry-level pay is $50,000. Second, it takes 10 years for a person to get to the $100,000 range. It might be great for a person starting a career at 18 to make $100,000 per year ten years after they start their career, but what about someone starting a career at an older age. Say 28, 38, or 48. In those instances people would be much older when they get to the $100,000 range.

In addition, how much of that $100,000 salary comes from working many hours of overtime. Although the title of the article is "$100,000 Manufacturing Jobs" and it is stated in the article that after 10 years on the job one "could" make $100,000 per year, Joe Sedlak, the owner of Chesapeake Machine Company, stated that his "top worker" earns $30 per hour. $30 per hour does not add up to $100,000 per year. That is actually $57,600 per year. The article went on to say "annual pay at his company ranges between $70,000 and $80,000 with overtime.". The difference between $57,600 and $70,000 and $80,000 is $12,400 and $22,400 respectively.

There is never a mention of someone actually making $100,000 per year either through base salary or overtime work. However, the difference between $100,000 and $57,600 is $42,400. How much overtime would someone have to work in order to go from $57,600 to $70,000; $80,000; or $100,000?

The real problem with getting people to work manufacturing jobs may be that once people realize what it takes to get to the $100,000 range in manufacturing jobs they might decide to take other jobs that give them higher pay in a shorter period of time without the need for overtime.

[okieinpain]

6. am I missing something.

are you saying 50k is bad. damn I thought people were out of work, not refusing work.

[erpowers]

10. People Not Refusing Work

The article title made it seem like people were passing on $100,000 jobs. In my post I pointed out that the article did not list anyone who was making $100,000 and that it would take someone at least ten years to get anywhere near making $100,000.

So, in reality people may be passing on jobs that pay much less than $100,000. I also said that the people who are passing on those manufacturing jobs may be going after jobs that pay more sooner. In other words, the title of the article tried to make manufacturing jobs seem more competitive than they actually are.

[Brigid]

7. Manufacturing companies have only themselves to blame.

If this is even true. For more than 30 years, they treated their workers like crap -- laying them off, reducing pay and benefits -- and now they want to gripe that a younger generation that has known only this out of the manufacturing sector doesn't trust them?

[LeagueShadows24]

8. bad thing about factory jobs

You're a commodity. Anybody can do your job so you can be easily replaced. Might be good when you're young but when you're old watch out. not only that, it's hard to transfer those skills to other industries so you're pegged in.

[Dustlawyer]

14. Yeah, and you are always one back injury away from "re-training."

[cbrer]

11. There is way more to this story

Than the title or article would lead one to believe. And adds to my opinion that this economy is being artificially manipulated, and being reduced in quality and quantity.

Can you spell O L I G A R C H Y? Or F A S C I S T?

[bluescribbler]

12. A machinist's perspective

I've been working as a machinist for more than 30 years. I can set up and operate manual lathes, milling machines and grinding machines. I can program, set up and operate CNC lathes and milling machines. I have been a shop supervisor. (I stopped having nightmares the day I relinquished that position).

I've been laid off many times, but 6 months is the longest spell of unemployment I've ever experienced. A three day weekend was the shortest. I live in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country, and I've never earned $100K in a year. I may earn $70K this year, but that's because I've been working 50-60 hour weeks.

When I started out, I knew men who had worked as drill press operators for 30 or 40 years. They never learned to set up the jobs, and never wanted to learn. Yet, they were able to get married, buy a house, raise a family, send the kids to college, buy a vacation home on the seashore or in the mountains, and eventually retire with a good pension. Those jobs no longer exist.

My current employer needs to grow. The backlog of orders is such that I'll have all the overtime I can handle for at least the next two years. They need to hire more machinists, welders and fabricators. They have been trying. They can't find anyone who is qualified. They can't find young people who are willing to learn the trade. I will be old enough to retire in a few more years. So will many of my colleagues. What will happen when we do retire? Will the company be able to get the work done? Will they be able to keep the work in the USA? We're all in trouble if they can't.

[Fumesucker]

13. I was talking to a recent HS graduate who would jump on a chance to apprentice as a machinist

This was only yesterday, he actually specifically mentioned an entry level machinist position as something he would like to try.

What the kid lacks is transportation, he's a good guy and pretty smart but his family is on hard times and with no job he has no money to get a car to get to work..

Public transit is nonexistent here like much of the USA, if you don't have a car you're not going to get to work, if you don't have the income from a job you're not going to get the car..

[ParkieDem]

15. Let me chime in here ....

First, I'm sure the owner here is overstating the case. Plenty of people are out there looking for work, and willing to do the jobs he has available. Why he can't find them is a complex question, but I do think he's right about some things.

"Of course I live where I live, so the people I meet are in my region. I do see shops that would like to hire good workers. The problem -- not everyone wants to live in places like Spencer, IA or Watertown, SD or Columbus, NE."

This is part of it. I know many people in Generation Y or whatever you want to call it, and they can't fathom living in a place smaller than New York or DC or Atlanta or Dallas. They all want to be "where the action is." They don't seem to want to live in what they perceive as a sleepy, boring place. Of course, I'm painting broad strokes here, but I think this is part of a problem - people willing to take less pay to live in the "sexy" city.

"The public school system tells students that we have to go to college to be successful," said Johnson. "Ever since you're young, you hear that's what you have to do to achieve the American dream."

I think he's right here, and this is a bubble that's going to burst sometime soon. Our education system is fooling people if it's telling them you have to go to college to be successful and achieve the "American Dream," whatever that is. By telling kids this, they can easily skew the lesson into "a college education is an automatic ticket to success" - which obviously isn't the case.

Bottom line, is the culture among younger people today is placing a type of soft stigma on manufacturing jobs, labor, and small-town life. Everyone thinks that to "make it" you need an office job in a big, cosmopolitan city. Getting out of that mindset isn't going to cure our economy, but it will help improve our culture, IMHO.

[n2doc]

17. Maybe they don't want to life in a place filled with narrow-minded bigots

I live in Georgia, and I'll tell you, if I had a job opportunity on the west coast I would jump at it. I am really sick and tired of being immersed in a t-bagger sea. I suspect many young people feel the same, there is no chance they want to move to a place where they can't be themselves.