More Training and Education Needed to Support Manufacturing

CBS News has an article today on the shortage of skilled labor in the American economy, one factor that has prevented firms from hiring more workers.

And she’s not alone. The government says there are 227,000 open manufacturing jobs, more than double the number a year ago. One hundred eighty-three thousand have been created since December, the strongest seven-month streak in a decade.

Fillingham said it’s hard to fill these jobs because they require people who are good at math, good with their hands and willing to work on a factory floor.

She’s had to resort to paying people to learn on the job, like 25-year-old Matthew McDannel. The average manufacturing worker is more than twice his age.

“Maybe the work’s too hard,” said McDannel. “Maybe it’s too hot. Maybe people just think about it and they’re just, like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do that.’”

By the year 2012 it’s estimated this country will be three million skilled workers short, and it’s not just in manufacturing sector. A recent survey found 22 percent of American businesses say they are ready to hire if they can find the right people.

The full article can be read here.

– The Editors