Jobs issue or skilled worker problem?

[SailKing1]

I watched a interview on the news last night with the President of a manufacturing company in Michigan about the difficulty of trying to find qualified skilled manufacturing people to hire. They have numerous jobs available but are unable to find employees in manufacturing. The interview also mentioned another manufacturer in Michigan having the same problem. I can not remember the names of the companies, but they where reported to be two of the largest in the area. One manufactured state of the art rear view mirrors and the other injected plastic molding.

The news piece went on to discuss the lack of people trained in manufacturing and because the companies inability to find employees they''re unable to meet client orders. This leaves an opening for overseas (Chinese) companies to pick up the slack and enter into there business.

They also talked about manpower's report they are unable to fill 54% of the jobs they have available. Manpower is one of the largest suppliers of employees for manufacturing in the country. My cousin owns a company that supplies skilled blue collar workers for manufacturing in the ship building industry an is having the same issue.

I guess my question is that we hear so much about lack of jobs in manufacturing while it appears there is a lack of trained skilled people to hire. As I have mentioned before, my company offers hiring services for our clients seeking both skilled trades and management positions and we have the same issue, finding qualified people to fill the positions.

Do we really have a jobs issue or a skilled worker problem?

[knothead]

If the jobs were there, the companies would hire people and give them on the job training.
Manufacturing jobs are often assembly line jobs. It's not like you have to be a chemist or an engineer to be trained to do a specific task. You just need to have a job and someone willing to teach you how to do your job.
I have had lots of jobs in my life. Many of them in manufacturing, machining etc. I never had formal training for any of them. I walked in the door and was willing to start at the bottom. I was willing to work hard and learn quickly.
Isn't that the way it works anymore?

I keep hearing everyone use the catch phrase "growth". It's driving me crazy. Hell, we don't need growth. It's too late for worrying about growth. We need to maintain, sustain. We need to lower our expectations and keep working. We need to get realistic and realize that things are never going to be the way they were.
Companies are going to have to accept that their bottom line is going to be lower. Workers are going to have to accept that their standard of living is going to drop. Better to make less than to make nothing.
It's either that or we just sit back and watch as the whole thing collapses like the house of cards that it is.

You can't go home again.
Welcome to the new reality.

[PorFin]

It's a good question, and calls to question the country's current philosophy on education.

I haven't got any solutions, but recognize a few things that may be working against us.

Most K-12 schools today seem to be entirely focused on prepping kids to get into college. While commendable, we all know that not every Jack and Jill out there are destined to become rocket scientists. At the same time, vocational training has seen a sharp decrease in emphasis/funding.

Knoty's got a good point -- OJT used to be a lot more prevalent than it seems to be today. It may be that as production methods have grown more and more automated, those old timers who used to serve as the mentors just aren't able to keep up. It could also be because the thin profit margins are so thin, shops can't afford to keep somebody on the payroll whose main job is training and not production.

[PBzeer]

One problem is that a lot of people are unwilling to "start at the bottom". There's also a problem in finding people who are willing to accept a low wage, simply passing the drug and background tests that are now prevalent for most any business.

I encounter many young people who, basically, lack the self-discipline necessary to work their way up to good paying jobs. To many of them, just showing up for work entitles them to advancement.

The one thing I do know is that I've never had a problem finding a job when I needed one. But then, there's no job that I feel I'm too good for either.

[SailKing1]

Knotty, It used to be you where hired into a manufacturing job at minimum wage or there abouts and learned from the ground up. The problem today is that no one wants to start at the bottom. As for the companies mention in the news piece, they are looking for people who can operate computer operated assembly machines if I remember correctly.

As for the positions I am trying to fill for my clients, the applicants need to be skilled as the companies have enough trainees already. From the management and accounting side they have to have job related specifics.

The other issue with the on the job training seems to be tied to cost. Most businesses today are focused on cost to productivity. Admin. are being reduced to minimal (think automated phone systems) and much of the admin task are becoming part of the revenue generating positions responsibility. For example sales and management are doing more and more of what they previously would have pushed off on admin. All of this comes about based on the need to reduce semi-fixed expenses to fall within the operating ratios for a specific business.

PorFin, you are right on with the fact that most are pushed towards college and even encouraged not to pursue a career other than professional. There is a need for skilled blue collar workers and tech school graduates are getting multiple job offers at a rate of 8 to 1. I think there might be a message in there for the unemployed.

The point is there are a lot of well paying jobs available that we seem to not be able to fill.

[SailKing1]

PB, your right about young people just showing up for the job and not taking any pridde in their work. There was a study completed by SHRM a few years back which covered the four different generations in the work force today. The differences in there way of thinking was dramatic. My fathers generation was brought up to take a job and work it for life with pride and dignity. Work hard get a raise and promotion. On average today's youth starts looking for a new job as soon as they are hired. Ironically the job doesn't have to be a better upward position, it just has to offer more pay. We get applicants all the time that have had multiple (3-4) jobs in 12 to 18 months. It used to be that was an indication of poor performance or bad work ethic. Today its just about the 25 cent difference in pay.

[LandLocked66c]

You have to remember that alot of the unemployed used to make over 40K/year, minimum, standing in front of a machine. I took classes with these folks while chasing after IT certs and they didn't have a chance! They just don't have the "tools" to be competitive, they thought they would just slide right over to a cushy IT job - not the case AT ALL!

It's far easier to stay on benefits and get classes and school for free, then to kick em and try without. They simply can't afford to live on less. I've also seen some that are so banged up from factory work that they can't perform the tasks that are expected.

[remetau]

Originally Posted by SailKing1

PB, your right about young people just showing up for the job and not taking any pridde in their work. There was a study completed by SHRM a few years back which covered the four different generations in the work force today. The differences in there way of thinking was dramatic. My fathers generation was brought up to take a job and work it for life with pride and dignity. Work hard get a raise and promotion. On average today's youth starts looking for a new job as soon as they are hired. Ironically the job doesn't have to be a better upward position, it just has to offer more pay. We get applicants all the time that have had multiple (3-4) jobs in 12 to 18 months. It used to be that was an indication of poor performance or bad work ethic. Today its just about the 25 cent difference in pay.

Probably because there has long been a lack of loyalty from the employers.

[SailKing1]

Originally Posted by remetau

Probably because there has long been a lack of loyalty from the employers.

For some businesses that would be correct, but that is not the standard that I have seen. As a matter of fact there are times when I have encouraged clients to let someone go that obviously was not cut out for the position they where working. My feeling was you would do each other a favor by filling the position with a qualified employee while letting the employee in question move on to something more suited for them, To my surprise the response was to work with them and get them moving in the right direction. The feeling being that have made an investment in money and time and the individual in question was honest and loyal. Sometimes it worked out, others it just did not.

[PBzeer]

Probably because there has long been a lack of loyalty from the employers.

That's true to a point, but it's also a two way street.

One thing I've noticed at Walmart, as I work to refill the kitty, is that they are far more tolerant of their hourly workers, than of salaried management. And, for anything that isn't egregious, they have a lengthy process of warnings and attempts to work with the individual before they finally let them go.

Like most things though, it's not just one facet or the other, it's a mix of various problems. Work ethic, expectations, lack of useful education, lifestyle, and other, less noticeable things.