Manufacturers Move to Train and Hire U.S. Workers
A recent op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal has identified a major labor shortage in the U.S. manufacturing sector, but instead of calling for more foreign workers, the op-ed suggests some in the industry are finding ways to train unemployed Americans to fill the positions. According to a survey conducted in October of 2011, 5% of manufacturing jobs went unfilled despite a 9% unemployment rate.
"This is excellent news," said NumbersUSA president and founder Roy Beck. "These unfilled jobs can be filled with unemployed Americans."
According to the October survey, 74% of manufacturers said a shortage in available machinists, craft workers, and technicians were keeping firms from expanding its operations.
Ed Hughes, president and CEO of Gateway Community and Technical College in Kentucky said, "In the 1980s, U.S. manufacturing was '80% brawn and 20% brains,' but now it's '10% brawn and 90% brains.' This new trend, widely known as 'advanced manufacturing,' leans heavily on computation and software, sensing, networking and automation, and the use of emerging capabilities from the physical and biological sciences"
According to the op-ed written by University of Michigan professor Thomas Hemphill and Mark Perry of the American Enterprise Institute, manufacturers have been working with local colleges and trade schools to train local unemployed workers - something Pres. Obama addressed during his State of the Union address last month.
As one solution, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has endorsed a national Manufacturing Skills Certification System developed and administered by the Manufacturing Institute, a nonprofit affiliated with NAM that operates as part think tank and part solutions center. Seventeen states have national philanthropic funding for deploying the Manufacturing Skills Certification System, and 18 states have grass-roots efforts and strategic partnerships advocating deployment ...
Output in manufacturing expanded by 4% in 2011, more than twice the 1.7% overall growth rate of the U.S. economy. For manufacturers to continue this remarkable expansion, it's critical that our shortage of skilled workers be addressed.
-- Hemphill and Perry, Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2012
"Both Prof. Hemphill and Mr. Perry agree that in order for manufacturing to continue its record-pace expansion, more skilled workers are needed," Beck said. "This is when you typically see calls for more foreign workers to continue the expansion. But Hemphill and Perry recognize that with 20 million Americans looking for full-time work, manufacturers can train and hire unemployed Americans instead."
For more information, see the full op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.