60 Mins Piece: Can't Find Decent Employees?

[chopper]

Anyone else see the 60 Mins piece Sunday night about the manufacturing firm that is unable to find decent workers to work in their machine shop/fabrication/assembly plant?

Interesting story but in the end the REAL problem was as big as the nose on Andy Rooney's face. They want entry-level workers who can code for CNC machines, read a micrometer and caliper, change bits on a lathe and etc. You must known how to do pretty advanced trig to do this. Okay.

Can't find any workers. Okay.

Starting pay for someone who can do all of the above? $12 hour.

I think I see what the issue it.

What does Wal Mart pay, or even McDonald's?

[graylocks]

chopper wrote:
What does Wal Mart pay, or even McDonald's?

probably pretty close to minimum wage. it varies by state law but the Federal minimum is $7.25. good ole GA passed a law EXEMPTING themselves from the Federal minimum.

[M A V I C]

Didn't see it, but where was the story based? $12/hr is pretty good entry level pay in a lot of the country.

[graylocks]

M A V I C wrote:
Didn't see it, but where was the story based? $12/hr is pretty good entry level pay in a lot of the country.

i think chopper's point is that $12 is not good pay for someone with the necessary skill set for that job. might be for someone willing and able to train for that job, though.

[freeradical]

chopper wrote:
They want entry-level workers who can code for CNC machines, read a micrometer and caliper, change bits on a lathe and etc. You must known how to do pretty advanced trig to do this. Okay.

A High School graduate should be able to do this.

[cbelt3]

chopper-

I didn't see the piece, but I work in a manufacturing company in Ohio. We expect our successful applicants for starting jobs to have specific skills. Basic shop math. Using basic shop hand tools and intruments like rulers. We do *not* expect entry level employees to have machinist and programming skills. We have apprenticeship programs and work with local tech schools (and pay 100% tuition for A's and B's.) for some training, and provide others ourselves.

Pay is piecework, so it ranges from $0 to $20 and up per hour. Yes. $0. They don't get paid if the stuff they make isn't to QA specs.

The REAL issue ? Kids out of high school have woefully insufficient skills. Basic shop math involves addition, subtraction, division, multiplication. Fractions and decimals. Percentages. Some basic statistics. An enormous percentage of our applicants cannot pass that test.

You mention discount retail or fast food as a career alternative to manufacturing. Both are infamous dead-end 'jobs' with no future and no options. Kids that want to work hard can shine and have an actual career in manufacturing. A career that can span a lifetime, and involve excellent pay. Or you can live on 25 hours a week at that $x per hour wage.


FWIW... minimum wage varies state by state and city by city. Here in NE Ohio, minimum wage is $7.70 per hour. So $12 per hour is pretty good money.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm

[testcase]

"A High School graduate should be able to do this."



40 years ago, I'd agree with you. Today, very few high school graduates from Long Island high schools would meet those requirements.

[cbelt3]

free- High Schools, even in heavy manufacturing areas, no longer provide *any* trade instruction unless it's through special 'magnet' programs. And then only to a select group of students.

No Child Left Behind in filling out a McDonald's application.

[graylocks]

testcase wrote:
"A High School graduate should be able to do this."



40 years ago, I'd agree with you. Today, very few high school graduates from Long Island high schools would meet those requirements.

i agree. advanced trig capabilities? yeah, right. should and could are very different words.

[freeradical]

What do you consider advanced trig?

Solving right triangles, and being able to convert between linear and angular velocity is not advanced trig.

I doubt very highly the job requires the applicant to apply the various trig identities to do proofs and solve trigonometric equations.