Small Manufacturers Desperately Seek Skilled Staff

[nivek]

Small Manufacturers Desperately Seek Skilled Staff


By JOANNE MORRISON, REUTERS
TRAFFORD, Pa. -- Only half the machines are running at precision
parts maker Hamill Manufacturing, nestled in the Allegheny Mountains
just east of Pittsburgh, once the booming center of the U.S. steel
industry.

The factory's inactivity is not the result of a shortage of
business -- it has more orders than it can fill -- but a shortage of
skilled workers. "I'd hire 10 machinists right now if I could," says
John Dalrymple, president of the company that makes high-end parts for
military helicopters and nuclear submarines. "That's 8-10 percent of
our workforce."

While millions of jobs making everything from textiles to steel
have moved to powerhouses such as China in recent years, precision
manufacturing remains a crucial niche in the USA, one that is
overworked and chronically understaffed. That shortage of skilled
workers is likely to get worse as baby boomers retire with no younger
generation of manufacturing workers to take the baton.

"Our workforce is an aging workforce," says CEO Jeff Kelly, whose
father founded Hamill nearly 60 years ago. "There isn't a queue of
people lining up to come into the industry."

About 20 percent of small to midsize manufacturers -- those with
up to 2,000 workers -- cited retaining or training employees as their
No. 1 concern, according to a 2007 survey by the National Association
of Manufacturers that has not been published yet.

A separate study in 2005, the latest available, said 90 percent of
manufacturers are suffering a moderate to severe shortage of qualified
workers.

"The irony is we pay very well, we have good benefits, we have job
security, and most of the companies that have survived the
manufacturing recession at the early part of this decade can't find
enough skilled workers," Kelly said.

A typical manufacturing job pays about $60,000 a year, according
to manufacturing industry figures, a premium of about 25 percent to
the service industries.

Attracting Younger Workers

At Hamill, a general machinist will start at $9 an hour, rising to
$14.50 an hour after training and going up to the mid- to high-$20s
for senior machinists, who can earn nearly $70,000 a year.

But that is not enough to attract younger workers to
manufacturing, a sector that has suffered a bad rap over the years
with layoffs in well-known companies such as the Big Three U.S.
automakers.

"Too few young people consider manufacturing careers and often are
unaware of the skills needed in an advanced environment," the U.S.
Labor Department wrote in a study on the issue.

Edward Lazear, chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic
Advisers, warns that the skills shortage will eventually cut into the
country's economic growth.

"I can tell you on my desk right now I have over 300 very
high-quality job openings that I cannot fill," said Michael Smeltzer,
executive director of the Manufacturers' Association of South Central
Pennsylvania, who coordinates job openings for that part of the state.

State officials say less-skilled work will continue to move
overseas where pay is lower. The state has pledged $17 million to
develop a skilled workforce and keep the high-precision sector here.
"We're not going to compete on the price of our labor, we're going to
compete on the skill of our labor," said Sandi Vito, the state's
deputy secretary for workforce development.

Smaller businesses -- those with 200 employees or fewer -- make up
the bulk of the U.S. manufacturing sector, and for them the skills
shortage is a crucial issue. Nationally, one in four businesses has a
vacancy it can't fill, finds a survey by the National Federation of
Independent Business. "We could make more GDP if we could find some
hands to do it," says Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB's chief economist.

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