Yes, Academia, There Really is a Skills Gap!

While politicians butt heads in Washington, it's important to remember that manufacturers are focused on keeping the economy moving, by running our businesses as best we can and addressing challenges to this growth such as the industry's skills shortage.

A couple of recent stories in the media highlight how seriously we at NTMA and our members around the country take these issues.  Matt Tyler of Vickers Engineering in New Troy, MI, appeared on CNBC to talk about the growth prospects for manufacturing in spite of the Washington political gamesmanship we're all enduring these days.  You can link to Matt's appearance here

Also, NTMA continues to stay focused on how to address the skills gap that is creating difficulty for manufacturers all around the country who seek qualified workers to fill high-skilled positions.  Recently in the media, a number of stories have been circulating suggesting that the skills gap does not really exist and that the problem instead relates to companies not paying enough to potential workers.

NTMA has been working hard to fight this misperception, put forward by academics like Peter Capelli at the Wharton School of Business.  As you can see in this story from a paper in Portland, Maine, the media is giving this narrative some attention -- and NTMA is fighting back.  We are reaching out to journalists to provide a more balanced view, and actively pushing for fresh stories that more fairly represent this issue.

There is a great deal of education to be done on this front both in Congress and in the media, but we think it's a fight worth having!

NTMA Member Roy Sweatman Warns of Damage to Manufacturing by Automatic Defense Cuts in Orlando Sentinel Op-Ed

Congrats to Roy Sweatman for his op-ed in today's Orlando Sentinel "Reckless Defense Cuts Would Hurt Small Firms and Military."

In the op-ed, Roy points out that a most specialized skills and technical expertise are found in the defense and aerospace supply chain made up of small and medium sized companies across the United States.  "Seventy cents out of each military purchasing dollar goes to such supply-chain firms, which are home to more than two-thirds of defense manufacturing jobs."

Because Congress and the President failed to reach a long term deal on spending, automatic spending cuts will start on January 2, 2013.  The automatic spending cuts would result in a $492 billion cut in defense spending and $171 billion in entitlement programs.  The process is known as "sequestration" where an amount of money equal to the difference between a cap set by a budget resolution and the amount appropriated is "sequestered" by the U.S. Treasury Dept.  In order to pressure themselves to make a deal, Congress authorized automatic spending cuts for both defense and entitlement programs if they could not reach an agreement on spending.  To date, no agreement has been reached.

Roy warns in the op-ed:

Such abrupt and indiscriminate cuts will wreak havoc on the aerospace defense chain of supply as they flow down from the large prime contractors to the small businesses that do so much of the actual work. Economists say more than 1 million defense-connected jobs could be lost in 2013. That means a proportional hit of 600,000 jobs at small and midsized manufacturing shops. Congress might have aimed for a few wealthy megafirms, but it's machine shops, tool and die presses, and family-owned businesses in every district in every state that will take the ultimate hit.

The cost in jobs is painful enough, but the loss of technical excellence and capabilities is an even greater concern. My company, for example, has the only water jet deburring system in the U.S. — basically a computer-controlled machine using a tiny stream of high-pressure water to remove metal imperfections in high-grade mechanical parts.

NTMA's One Voice team in Washington, DC is conveying this same message to Members of Congress and the Administration.

Congratulations Roy for describing the peril that manufacturing faces because of these cuts.  Read the article here.

Western Massachusetts Chapter of NTMA holds 6th Annual Celebration

Congrats to the Western Massachusetts chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association for holding its sixth annual celebration at Peerless Precision in Westfield, MA.  The event focused on highlighting the shortage of skilled workers in manufacturing and attracting young, talented workers to our indsutry.  A recent study showed that there are more than 600,000 manufacturing jobs that are going unfilled because of the lack of skilled workers.  The event made the local news.  See video below that includes an interview with Peerless Precision Co-Owner Debbie Maier:

Machining industry looking to hire

NTMA Member Strohwig Industries Featured in Media Story on Skilled Worker shortage

Thank you Strohwig Industries for keeping the issue of a shortage of skilled workers in the media.  Strohwigh was featured in the Wisconsin media in a story titled "State manufacturers have jobs, need workers," published on WisconsinWatch.org and reprinted in several publications.

The story features quotes by Stohwig Controller and NTMA Milwaukeee Chapter head Mike Retzer who discussed BOTS IQ Wisconsin, an innovative competition for high school kids who build and design robots in partnership with manufacturers.

The story begins: "Last year, 47 hourly workers at Strohwig Industries took home more than $100,000." 

The reporter quotes Mike:

"They’re not dirty smoke-stack industries that everybody thinks is manufacturing....And they’re not the mundane, routine jobs. They’re mentally challenging and they’re very fulfilling from the mental and from the career and earnings part.”

And here's chart that shows the recent comback of manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin

Way to go Mike and Strohwig Industries!

Congrats to Joe Kelly, Winner of the NTMA Pittsburgh Chapter Apprentice Competition

Congratulations to Joe Kelly, Apprentice Machinist at Stellar Precision Components in Jeannette, PA.  Joe won first place in the 2012 National Tooling and Machining Association Pittsburgh Chapter Apprentice Competition at New Century Careers Training Innovation Center.  Joe was featured in the Newsmaker section of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

NTMA is undertaking a number of initiatives to recruit and train the next generation of skilled manufacturing workers.  To learn more about these programs, visit our Workforce Development page on the NTMA website.

NTMA Members Featured in Bloomberg Story on Skilled Worker Needs

NTMA continues to take the lead on raising the issue of the problem of workforce development in manufacturing.  NTMA members Paul Bonin, President of Bertrand Products, and Kevin Ahaus, President of Ahaus Tool and Engineering , were featured yesterday in a Bloomberg Story on the inability of manufacturers to find skilled workers and declared that this issue "is holding back manufacturing, the industry that led the U.S. out of the worst recession since the 1930s."  The interview was conducted during the One Voice Legislative Conference last week.

NTMA Members Featured in USA Today

NTMA member and former Chairman Ron Overton, President of Overton Industries in Mooresville, Indiiana and NTMA President Dave Tilstone are featured today in a USA Today story on the challenges that manufacturers' are facing in finding skilled workers.  NTMA has been a leader on this issue, bringing this problem to the attention of policymakers and the national media.  Read thes story here.