What is the real crisis in manufacturing in the USA?
Friday, March 7, 2008 at 07:37AM
The factory of the future will have only two employees: a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment. Warren Bennis
According to a Minnesota Public Radio story that aired this morning, our state lost 3,800 manufacturing jobs last year - 55,000 jobs in the past eight years. So what do manufacturers say their biggest problem is?
A lack of workers!
But not just any workers - skilled workers.
...[Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Dan] McElroy said Minnesota manufacturers tell him they're looking for workers, but not for the low skilled manufacturing jobs of the past.
"Trades like machinist, plant electricians, welders ... engineers, skilled draftsman, the technical professions," McElroy said were some of the jobs manufacturers needed to fill.
McElroy said Minnesota isn't training it's workforce at a fast enough rate to fill those jobs. He said Minnesota manufacturers should work closely with high schools, technical colleges and universities to make sure students know those jobs are available and are trained to fill them.
Is NAFTA really the problem? Or is it the inability or unwillingness for our secondary schools to offer more than just college prep programs to their students?
How do school libraries and technology departments serve kids wanting careers in the skilled trades? Do today's workers in factories need to be able to "use information and technology in order to solve problems and answer questions?"
If so, why is information and technology literacy a higher legislative priority?
Reader Comments (4)
Isn't there a chance of getting dirty if you are a welder, electrician, a machinist? Don't you have to use pointy tools and work with your hands? I hear acetylene torches can get hot and burn you unless you are wearing lots of protective gear and maybe even a helmet...nope, my "honor" kid's parents would never go for it. It's much safer and more prestigious to work behind a desk ; )
Do schools train workers or do schools teach students to think? It makes a difference. In my own village of Peoria it makes me upset to here that the local public school district at one time was considering making an inner city high school a trade school only. Don't get me wrong the trades are very valuable and all work has dignity and purpose. But there is something wrong when we say to a group of children from the lower economic class that all you can do is manual labor.
Can't corporate America train their own workforce? Is schools produce confident, reliable, young people who can think critically and live humanely they should be ample fodder for learning mechanical skills.
Fear corporate tinkering in schools. 3M, Caterpillar, and other big industrials can train their own workforce not on the public dime.
Hi Paul,
I agree there are plenty of parents who would not want their kids in a "trade." But I also think there are plenty of parents who know their kids wouldn't be suited for a desk job and still want them to have a good standard of living and a respectable career. (I have one of those kinds of kids!)
How do get parents to understand that there is honor and value in every occupation? And that working with ones hands doesn't mean one is not having to work with one's head as well.
Thanks for the comment. It's right on target!
Doug
Hi Charlie,
I think the point of the news story was that there are NO manufacturing jobs that don't require thinking as well as physical labor. If the "trade schools" are not teaching problem solving skills, then they are indeed doing a disservice to students.
I struggle with the role of schooling being either for a liberal education or for learning a trade. Seems one of those places where a little balance is called for. See:
http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2006/1/13/and-not-or.html
Al the best,
Doug