Unfilled factory jobs spark hunt for high-tech workers

Unfilled factory jobs spark hunt for high-tech workers

Area demand strong for skilled manufacturing labor

By Mike Hoeft
mhoeft@greenbaypressgazette.com

A recent glimpse at an online Wisconsin job site shows scores of high-paying job openings at local factories. Many go unfilled.

Process piping designer, $48,000 to $78,000 a year, requiring experience as mechanical engineering technician.

Plant design specialist, $54,000 to $64,000 a year, associate degree with certification as engineering technician.

Truss designer, $25,000 to $50,000 a year, engineering training helpful.

"There's a huge demand for skilled manufacturing labor in this area," said Jim Golembeski, executive director of the Bay Area Workforce Development Board in Green Bay.

While layoffs at Wisconsin factories have garnered headlines the past few years, advanced manufacturers are hiring like crazy, Golembeski said.

At least they're trying to.

Bellevue-based furniture maker KI is expanding its product offerings and creating 75 new assembly positions at its Bonduel plant over the next three years. The 228,000-square-foot Bonduel plant currently employs 115. The venture will add high-pressure laminates and table tops to the company's product line.

Workers in particular need include CNC — computer numerical control — technicians. CNC technicians program machines to fabricate pieces. CNC automation has made it easier to manufacture complex shapes with fewer errors, better quality and less time to change the machine to produce different components.

CNC programmers are in high demand and often hard to find, said Kristy Brockman, human resources manager for KI Bonduel.

"The position has been posted for two months and we've received zero applicants," she said. She declined to state a pay range for the job, but said it was the highest-compensated technician position at the Bonduel plant.

"It's a new position that we hadn't had a need for here in the past," Brockman said. KI plans to fill one position by transferring a CNC technician to Bonduel from another KI facility.

"We'll also look at internal training and grow our own work force," she said. "It's a great opportunity for our current employees."

Vocational training

In a survey of 800 manufacturers last year by the National Association of Manufacturers, more than 80 percent said they were experiencing a shortage of skilled workers. The shortage is partly due to older, experienced workers retiring. And as more repetitive, less-skilled manufacturing moves abroad, U.S. manufacturers are requiring more high-tech skills.

The shortage of skilled manufacturing workers is so critical that New North Inc., a regional economic development agency, recently ran ads in the Detroit Free Press seeking welders and engineers for job openings here. The ads, touting "new work, new life, New North," were aimed at displaced factory workers with key skills, said Kathi Seifert of New North.

Technical colleges are trying to fill the need.

KI partners with state vocational colleges on training its work force, particularly in tool and die processes.

Sandy Duckett, vice president of college advancement at NWTC, said the college has been proactive in providing training certification in skilled manufacturing, such as machine tooling and welding.

"More manufacturing employers are seeking workers with credentials that make them more highly skilled," she said.

Duckett said employers have posted about 200 job orders on the NWTC Web site. Studies say 70 percent of the jobs in the future will require some technical expertise.

"About 40 percent of employers we know of use our student services office to post positions," she said.

Stuart Kolb, general manager of Bellevue's KI plant, said KI also works with NWTC on training workers in lean manufacturing techniques that minimize waste, handling, transportation and assembly costs.

"It's imperative for manufacturing to keep competitive," Kolb said. KI also faces skilled-worker shortages in hand welding and robotic-welding operations.

Golembeski said the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance aims to connect skilled employees with employers. Job-seekers and employers can post notices at its Web site.

Future needs

"We're certainly seeing more help-wanted ads," said Michael Klonsinski, executive director of the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership. A study in 2005 determined that availability of skilled workers was among four top issues facing Wisconsin manufacturers.

"Many manufacturers are being hurt because we don't have available talent," Klonsinski said. The short-term issue is meeting demand for trained workers. A long-term issue is manufacturing's image, he said.

To attract the best and brightest, people have to see it as an opportunity, he said. Besides assembly, manufacturing also involves logistics and marketing. Schools must promote engineering and math skills, he said.

In related news, the partnership this week released a survey in which a third of the manufacturers surveyed gave themselves high marks for growing sales and profitable growth. But more than half indicated room for improvement.

"Clearly the survey underscores the need for services to help Wisconsin's small and mid-size manufacturers adopt innovative growth strategies," Klonsinski said. Wisconsin's $46 billion industrial sector is well-positioned for future growth as long as manufacturers adopt business practices that emphasize speed, agility and make the transition from "commodity" to "value-added" products, he said. The partnership is a nonprofit consulting organization that helps small and mid-size manufacturers become more competitive.