Article in the local paper today about manufacturing work going begging for applicants

http://www.startribune.com/business/16404346.html

The comments at the end suggest that there are some discrepancies. Still, it's interesting.

One other comment. They mention going to the high tech whiteboards. Little rant here. A good instructor can keep you fascinated with a slate blackboard and screeching chalk. A bad one can't keep you interested with 3D holograms. End of rant.


ford2go

 

I have worked many, many manufacturing work jobs over the years. They promiss everything and give little. Tons of manufacturing jobs have the boys club. If you are not a member you won't climb any ladder and expect small raises. Unqualifed boys club members will shoot up the ladder and or get large raises. I tell my kids go to college and stay out of manufacturing work. You'll end up out sourced or in a dead end job.

 

There's plusses and minuses to everything...I've been in manufacturing for 15 years now...while I'm not a millionaire, I'm never out of work...

 

All of my "town jobs" have been manufacturing jobs. There've been good ones and bad ones. The best one I had ended when the plant closed after being in business for 20 years. I would have liked to retire from the place, really, because there were good people to work with there, and the bosses (mine, at least) had respect for someone who did a good job and could get things done without having to be prodded into doing it every minute.

The one I have now is in the running for being the worst. It's very much an "old boys club" sort of atmosphere. You're not judged on the amount or quality of your work, but on things like how "nice" you are to your boss and whether you have a "good attitude towards the company, and demonstrate it both on and off the job". Well, I show up every night there, do what I'm assigned to the best of my ability, and go home. In my mind the company I work for has no right to tell me who I have to "like" or what attitude to have when I'm not working there is crossing the line. I once got a verbal reprimand from the plant manager for wearing a shirt from my old job. They used to give them away pretty frequently, so I have quite a few of them. I was told that it was "inappropriate" to wear shirts from a company that packed up and left town to work at another factory. The micro-managing that goes on there is so off-the-charts that it would be laughable if they were'nt so serious about it.

I'm on the lookout for a new town job, obviously. Most likely it'll be another manufacturing job, and I'm okay with that. I don't mind doing that sort of work, really, because I have a very strong work ethic, and I like making things that will last. But, simply showing up and doing a good job is rarely the point of having a job, is it? It's basically a crap-shoot whether you end up liking the job or not.


Sorry for the length of this one. Was'nt intended to be a rant.

I'll be heading back to the bunker now.

 

I've worked in manufacturing my whole life, and I actually like it. I've mostly worked as a toolmaker, which used to be a good and respected trade in this country. In recent years, foreign competition has really hit hard. I only recently got back up to the same rate I was making in a job 12 years ago (without moving!). Recently, there have been NO jobs in the papers or on the net for this area. If I lose my job, I'm flat screwed, and I'm too old (54) to learn a new trade that pays decent. I no longer recommend manufacturing jobs to anyone, at least around here. Our company is barely hanging on, and we have no benefits, sick pay, insurance, or anything else. It takes 5 years to get 6 days vacation! I'm moving to SC in a couple years, and unless there are tooling jobs on every corner, I'm going to do something different (Welcome to Wal-Mart- do you need a cart?)

 

they always "need" people for manufactoring here also. the job ads sound all nice and impressive with great promises of this and that, but fact is that not too many people are going to stand in one spot all day putting something in a box.

i work as maintenance at a manufactoring plant and we can't find people either, the people who are there though are the dumbest of the dumb, a thought process of a rock. not ridiculing them, its just they have zero desire in life to do anything other than work, live and die.

in a country that every where you turn there is hype of doing this and that, it is hard to get a real slice of quality people motivated to do mudane work all day long, people with any sort of motivation and ambition usually do other things, people without those traits usually don't want to work or are crappy workers anyway. with many exceptions of course.

and yes, i am talking about no iq required box filling positions, not assembling a tractor or something type higher tech manufacturing.

around here the biggest employers are walmart and those employment agencies that send out people to fill manufacturing positions.

 

I find that 50,000 dollars a year line hard to believe.... i'm only a couple hours away from there and in the manufacturing business and the only reason I make that much is because I work 20-30 hours of overtime every week.

There no way they are offing kids out of high school $25/hr starting when they don't know jack about manufacturing. If they are... they need to move those companies down to Iowa, i'll be right over.

 

I'm a manager, and without overtime, I don't make $50K a year.

 

I have worked manf. all my life and been a foreman part of it. The good ole boy system is alive and well in both blue and white collar jobs. Doesn't really matter. You can advance or be held back as much or sometimes more for how you play the game as what you know. For me to discourage anybody from taking a position with a company that will pay for the technical schooling and come out and make a decent pay doesn't make sense. You can't expect to make $50K but for starting out even in the low to mid $20's isn't that bad. Many businesses will also help or even pay for your college education. Take the manf training go to work and then start on your college courses. At least you will be making better than McD's wages and have something that you can put on a application. Then if you go into white collar work between the tech training, college and a real world job you will have a advantage over the guy that just took the college route and knows little of the real world.
Just because you have college degree doesn't mean you won't get laid off or your job outsourced either. A college degree also doesn't mean a great paying job always either. I make better money than many white collar people that I know that have degrees and have my pension and partially paid medical.

 

We have a hard time filling skilled positions at our electric power plant. All of the qualified applicants seem to be 40 and up. Most are already employed and just seem to be testing the waters but aren't willing to relocate.

It seems like operations and maintenance in heavy industry is becoming an old man's trade. I don't know who is going to keep the lights on when it comes time for all of us to retire.

 

well, with the schools doing nothing but promoting the for profit college business and society in general holding a college graduate/white collar worker so much higher in the status ladder, its a no wonder less and less are taking up skilled labor. it is many times looked down on and many make it out to be a last resort type job when a person has failed in life.

 

I'm 35. Does that count?

Relocating costs dollars. I'm gainfully employed where I live. If I'm gonna move all the way across the country, I fully expect the hiring company to help with the relocation costs...

 

It's all negotiable. Our company has even paid air fare for applicant's and their familys to check out the area. None seemed interested. I think most are scared off by the real estate market or are closing in on retirement age and just want to stay put. In the end we hired the most skilled but unqualified local applicants we could get.

But there again, two of them are 45 and one is 50. Our facility has only one employee who is less that 40. Most of us are 50 and up. There just don't seem to be many young people entering the field of heavy industry. America is getting soft. Nobody wants to work nights, weekends or outdoors. By the time I retire, oil refinerys and power plants will probably be staffed by highly paid skilled foreign workers. Keeping the lights on so americans can sit indoors behind a desk with a computer monitor at their low wage jobs.

 

Without trying to offend anyone, I have to ask- Why wouldn't anyone try to go to college to make more money for easier work? I can't be the only one thinking that.

From all the factories I've been in (and I've been in a lot from low tech/pay to high tech/pay) there is not a one that I would want to work in. It's often hot or cold, very loud, loney, subject is severe injury, and generally terrible on the body so that by the time you can retire, you're body is totally shot.

Mike

 

With a LOT of People ... that's isn't a viable option.

Check out for openings for new students in several Tech/Trade schools around the country.