Crescent-News.com - Many factories now in need of skilled laborers

By HEATHER BAUGHMAN

baughman@crescent-news.com

Help wanted: skilled laborers needed.

Across the country, not excluding northwest Ohio, employers are reporting that it is difficult to find good, qualified workers to fill skilled trade positions.

With technology on the rise, many factories are utilizing more specialized equipment, resulting in the need for highly-skilled employees in the workplace.

At Koester Metals in Defiance, Clayton Brink in human resources said the company is "always looking for skilled welders and machine operators," but, he said, "it's challenging to find people to fill those positions around here."

Instead of always looking to bring in employees who already have the skills the company needs, Brink said Koester Metals, a sheetmetal fabricating operation, is considering on-the-job training.

"We are looking into different alternatives ... different options to bring in a younger group and develop them here," Brink said. "We're trying to stay competitive."

Brian Callan, president of Defiance Stamping Co., said hiring qualified workers who can perform some of the higher-skilled jobs at his company can be difficult. "It's not easy," he said. "It is difficult, but it is not impossible."

Defiance Stamping, a metal stamping and sheet metal forming company, utilizes tool and die makers, electricians and maintenance workers to carry out some of its more skilled positions.

"There is a lot of work to do from a recruiting standpoint," Callan said, adding that to hire a qualified employee, "you have to offer a level of pay commensurate with their experience."

While some employers may find it difficult to fill their skilled positions, Callan said the people being hired "are never out of a job ... If you're hiring someone good, you're hiring them away from someone else."

With that in mind, Callan said that it is important to not only offer these good, skilled employees an enticing base package, but "you have to treat them properly so they won't want to leave."

Tom Wylie, dean of engineering technologies and workforce development at Northwest State Community College, is working hard to grow the population of skilled factory workers.

"Manufacturing in Ohio is very vibrant and strong," Wylie said, however, "we are seeing a major shift in manual labor to automated plants, resulting in changes to the skill set of employees.

"Technology is moving so fast, people don't have the skill sets that the factories need," Wylie said.

As one of the employers hiring students being trained locally at the four-county community college, Callan said, "Northwest State, I believe, does an absolutely wonderful job training people in the skilled trades. They truly are an asset to northwest Ohio."

Even though this area school is helping to train workers for tomorrow, there is another problem that Wylie sees. He pointed out that many parents today want their children to go on to college to become white-collar workers, with many dismissing the so-called dirty factory jobs that they remember from days before.

However, while 75 percent of factory jobs in 1950 were available to people with only a high school education, today, 75 percent of factory jobs require at least a two-year degree, Wylie said, noting that many of these jobs are no longer "dirty."

"Students that come out of here (NSCC) in plastics are starting out at $38,000 plus," Wylie said.

About half of the students that come out of the program at NSCC are placed in jobs, with the other half continuing with their education to obtain a bachelor degree, Wylie said.

"It's not your dad's factory. It's not your grandfather's factory," Wylie said. "It's changed."