The Manufacturing Predicament

Education System Falls Short
Education priorities today rarely position manufacturing as a preferred career choice. The U.S. Department of Labor reported on this trend a couple of years ago, stating, “Too few people consider manufacturing careers and often are unaware of the skills needed in an advanced education environment. Similarly, the K-12 system neither adequately imparts the necessary skills nor educates students on manufacturing career opportunities.”

Two dynamics are primarily responsible for this shortcoming. First, without question, in recent years many cost-conscious school districts dropped vocational programs and shop classes to better balance their stretched budgets. These actions were happening even before the current economic crisis. According to Dr. Chris Kuehl, an economic analyst for FMA, “Only six percent of all the high schools in America offer shop classes. It is the single most expensive program a school supports. In addition, technical schools don’t have the fiscal capability to keep up with the rapidly changing technology now found in manufacturing facilities. Therefore, students are not trained in the skills and technologies employers need.”

The NBT poll of teens underscored this unfortunate trend. Only 28 percent said they have taken an industrial arts or shop class. It’s interesting to note that more than double that number (58 percent) have completed a home economics course. In addition, the poll revealed 61 percent of the teens have never even visited or toured a factory or other type of manufacturing facility. When such a small number of young people can take pride in finishing a shop project or can view the operations of today’s factories, it’s no surprise manufacturing is not on their career radar screens.

The second factor that contributes to the problem is, ironically, the high school counselors responsible for directing students to fulfilling careers. High school principals and counselors often fail to realize that manufacturing is a viable career option for students, opting instead to direct them to the typical four-year university program and degree. The education system should (at least theoretically) prepare our children for the future, yet it does not provide them exposure to skills and fields that offer significant opportunities. From a broader perspective, when you consider that only three-quarters of all students in the U.S. who start high school graduate, a concerted effort to raise graduation rates becomes even more paramount so that more students leave high school with employable skills.

These perspectives were reinforced in a significant way in late 2010 via a national survey of FMA members. When asked how to best improve the skill sets of new employees, the leading answer, cited by 66 percent of the respondents, is “more focus on careers in manufacturing in traditional school systems via curricula, school counselors and other means.” This is the same response FMA members gave in 2007 when asked a similar question.

And when asked to rank the academic preparation future workers should have, more than two-thirds of these manufacturing executives (68 percent) cited the need for a technical certificate (earned at a community or technical college), followed by high school diploma or GED (52 percent) and specialized industry certification (41 percent). Ranked significantly lower were associates and bachelor’s degrees.

Manufacturers’ Role
The manufacturing sector is not entirely blameless here. For reasons attributable to their own financial challenges and their need for some to focus exclusively on business survival, many companies have not been proactive to any great extent to help combat the skilled labor shortage issue.

“Manufacturers aren’t terribly active in Chambers of Commerce or professional associations, or with their local universities and colleges,” said Kuehl. “They need to reach out and be more active in their communities to tell the positive manufacturing story and stress the opportunities that exist. Such communications from the executives themselves can help remedy the conditions that created this crisis.”

Some industry executives also have acknowledged that extremely beneficial tactics that fostered skills – in-house apprenticeships, training programs and internships – have diminished during the economic downturn. Apprenticeships are one way to encourage prospective young employees to enter the field. Students who intern can learn valuable skills throughout the year and often become full-time employees at these companies upon graduation. Manufacturers have fallen short in offering these programs.

WHAT MUST BE DONE
Industry trade groups, manufacturers, educators and the media each can contribute to meeting the challenge. Fortunately, significant inroads have been made to:

Increase Young People’s Interest in Manufacturing
It’s quite apparent that attracting the next generation of workers to manufacturing can be a panacea. That’s the goal of the Gold Collar Careers initiative in Wisconsin established by a consortium of companies, trade groups and educators. And that’s why FMA member D&S Manufacturing (Black River Falls, WI) participated in a new promotional video that features young people visiting local manufacturers marveling at today’s high-tech factories and encouraging middle and beginning high school students to consider manufacturing careers. The video, titled “Manufacturing – the New Cool”, was made possible through a grant from the Wisconsin Technical College System and is being distributed to teachers and counselors.

Taking a similar message to young audiences is one goal of the aforementioned Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs (NBT) organization. NBT provides grants for a number of summer manufacturing camps across the country that expose junior high and high school students to math, science and engineering principles, and many facets of manufacturing technology. Camp participants use technology to create a product from start to finish, providing them practical manufacturing experience in 3D design, CNC programming, welding, machining, fabricating and more, while learning product creation, problem solving, entrepreneurship and team building.

Visits to area manufacturers provide an up-close look at products being made as well as career advice and inspiration from the entrepreneurs who run the companies. NBT also issues scholarships to students at colleges and trade schools pursuing careers in manufacturing. In 2010, ten scholarships were awarded to students across the country.

Two additional examples of this kind of outreach include the girls welding skills summer camp conducted by the Weld-Ed National Center for Welding Education and Training, and The Manufacturing Institute’s “Dream It. Do It.” Initiative, now active in 20 U.S. cities. The latter targets 16 to 26 year-olds providing access to available training and educational opportunities via partnerships with local manufacturers, government entities and educational institutions.

Partner with Educators in Effort
Support from the educational community in this effort is critical. Such engagement can be done through both formal and informal activities.