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question everything

(47,271 posts)
Fri Sep 2, 2016, 10:29 PM Sep 2016

As Skill Requirements Increase, More Manufacturing Jobs Go Unfilled

Amid anxiety about the disappearance of factory jobs, thousands of them are going unfilled across the U.S. The number of open manufacturing jobs has been rising since 2009, and this year stands at the highest level in 15 years, according to Labor Department data.

Factory work has evolved over the past 15 years or so as companies have invested in advanced machinery requiring new sets of skills. Many workers who were laid off in recent decades—as technology, globalization and recession wiped out lower-skilled roles—don’t have the skills to do today’s jobs. The mismatch poses a problem for the economy, stymieing the ability of businesses to increase production and weighing on growth, executives say.

Gary Miller has observed manufacturing’s evolution firsthand. When he started at Ohio-based Kyocera SGS Precision Tools Inc. in 1989, it employed 550 production workers. Despite shedding half its workers, it now produces twice as much, thanks to higher-skilled employees and equipment such as computer-controlled machine tools, which cost as much as $500,000 each.

Mr. Miller, KSPT’s director of training, struggles to find technicians with the electrical and mechanical skills needed to maintain the complex machines. One electrical maintenance role went unfilled for over a year as he searched for someone with an associate’s or bachelor’s diploma, ideally in manufacturing engineering.

(snip)

But the opportunities aren’t even across the manufacturing landscape. Sectors with high-margin products, such as pharmaceutical or medical device manufacturing, can often afford to pay more than makers of more traditional manufactured goods such as heavy machinery.

More..

http://www.wsj.com/articles/as-skill-requirements-increase-more-manufacturing-jobs-go-unfilled-1472733676

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As Skill Requirements Increase, More Manufacturing Jobs Go Unfilled (Original Post) question everything Sep 2016 OP
I'm sure the lack of "required skills" is true and THAT info napi21 Sep 2016 #1

napi21

(45,806 posts)
1. I'm sure the lack of "required skills" is true and THAT info
Fri Sep 2, 2016, 10:57 PM
Sep 2016

should be being preached to the current high school juniors & seniors. I am positive we are going through another major change, as they did in the industrial age, then again in the automation age. We've been living in the evolution of the computer age for about 20 years, and have already seen many old job categories get automatic, but new categories appear. Our work force needs to catch up with those changes.

In a similar situation to those talked about here, I was told something last week that not only surprised me, but proved new technologies will happen, and we better keep up.

The story was about a friend who bought one of those new all aluminum trucks. It's only about a month old, but some dim wit ran into him and damaged the truck's body. First he took the truck to the dealership where he bought it. They told him they couldn't fix it because only one of their body guys went for training and they didn't feel comfortable letting him work on one yet. He contacted the insurance co. and was told there are only 2 people in the State of Ga. who could fix it. He took it to the one they chose and when they gave the insurance co. the estimate of $13,000, they said "We're not paying that!" His response of course was "Look, I know that's high, but I took it to the place YOU recommended, so the estimate is not MY PROBLEM!"

The thing that surprised me the most is that there are only 2 body shops in the State of Ga. who can fix an aluminum body vehicle! If I remember right, he told me the body shop they recommended is an exotic car dealer. (No damn wonder the bill's high!)


The point is, technology moves on and new jobs are needed. WE need to learn the new skills to keep up.

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