NOTES FROM PRESIDENT

March 2008

Big Shoes to Fill in Advanced Manufacturing When ‘Boomers’ Begin Retiring

Commentary by Jim LeMaster, President and CEO, Kentucky Association of Manufacturers

What is now just a slow trickle of early retirees will become a raging torrent when Baby Boomers retire from Kentucky business and industry by the thousands in just a few years.
And unless we begin to make changes in Kentucky’s workforce development policy right now, we will face a workforce crisis that could bring the Kentucky manufacturing industry to its knees.

Why are manufacturers already beginning to have problems filling jobs that pay an average of $45,000 a year?

One reason is the declining quality of applicants for advanced manufacturing positions. Drug and alcohol test failures are increasing at an alarming rate. You just can’t afford to hire anyone to operate a million-dollar, computer-operated stamping machine if he’s high on something. And many of those who pass the drug screen show up late for work, call in sick or just quit after a few weeks on the job and a couple of paychecks.

Another problem is the increasing number of high school graduates who can’t read, write, or do math well enough level to work in a high-tech manufacturing environment. Need someone to convert fractions to decimals in his head? Forget it.

How does this relate to retiring Baby Boomers? For the most part, they don’t do drugs; they are smart and “aware” of the world around them; they show up on time and don’t call in sick as often; and they have a strong work ethic.

Thinking about replacing these great employees is what’s keeping many of our plant managers and owners up at night. In fact, some are already so desperate for good employees that they’re teaching English to Hispanic workers and giving remedial training to new hires before they can work on the factory floor.

Thankfully, the Beshear administration, legislators and many state education leaders are listening to the cries of the manufacturing industry, which itself is aggressively presenting bold solutions to solve the workforce problem before it’s too late.

Speaking to nearly 400 industry executives and suppliers at a recent manufacturing summit in Frankfort, Gov. Beshear acknowledged the workforce challenges the industry faces and said one of his top priorities is to increase the number and quality of Kentucky graduates, not only university-degree holders, but also those graduating from high schools and technical schools.

Well said. Admitting we have a problem is the first step in solving it.
Bold change can’t take place, however, unless our educators and legislators come together with Gov. Beshear and industry. Thankfully, there’s reason for optimism.

Sen. Jack Westwood (R-Crescent Spring) worked with Education Cabinet and industry leaders to craft the innovative “Career Pathways Act of 2008” (Senate Bill 32), which establishes pathways for middle and high school students to get into engineering or advanced manufacturing careers that pay great salaries. The industry supports this bill as well as Senate Bill 2, which addresses the poor math and science skills of our high school students. Students who begin taking advanced manufacturing classes in high school could also get dual credit from Area Technical Centers or KCTCS institutions.

Manufacturers are also reaching out to form partnerships with schools at the local level through the Kentucky School Boards Association and its leader, Bill Scott. If the workforce problems are going to be solved in the right way, manufacturing leaders must leave the plant for a few hours each month and sit down at the table with their local school boards and superintendents.

And why wouldn’t the local education leaders listen to someone who’s paying a big chunk of their tax revenues? We might just begin to have more students taking and passing the Kentucky Manufacturing Skills Standards test, which says they are ready for the challenges and good wages of advanced manufacturing.

Other important players in solving Kentucky’s looming workforce crisis are the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) and our network of private technical schools. While finishing high school with good basic skills is critical, learning a skilled trade at a technical school is far better.

KCTCS recently hired a strong professional educator from Michigan, Annette Parker, who comes to Kentucky with fresh ideas and a passion for excellence in advanced manufacturing career education. Parker is already a force on the newly formed Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) team of industry, government and education leaders.
What about our four-year colleges and universities? We need to churn out more engineers and keep as many as we can here in Kentucky. The University of Kentucky College Of Engineering and its Center for Manufacturing are providing leadership in this effort with programs like Project Lead The Way, but engineering programs at the University of Louisville, Western Kentucky and other institutions are also critical to filling our future need for engineers.

Finally, the attitudes of parents, teachers and students themselves must change about the manufacturing career if the workforce crisis is to be averted. The manufacturing environment today is a far cry from what it was in the ‘60s, ‘70s, or even ’80s.
Rarely do you see someone repetitively attaching “widget A” to “widget B” for eight hours a day. Instead, you see cool people working in teams, hammering on computer keyboards, running million-dollar robots and having the power to shut down an entire production line if something goes wrong. They are highly respected, smart, energetic and fun-loving folks who really like making enough money and benefits to afford homes, new cars, retirement and vacations.

That’s why the manufacturing industry is beginning a state-wide marketing campaign on radio and in the newspapers to change the image of the career from the old, out-dated misperception to the reality of what it is today. Unless students are aware of the economic opportunities in advanced manufacturing and see it as the “cool” career it really is, nothing will happen.

And “nothing happening” is an outcome the advanced manufacturing industry, and the Kentucky economy, cannot afford.

The manufacturing industry has reached out to work with our government and education leaders to solve a massive workforce problem before it’s too late. But we must be open to new policies, strategies, initiatives and programs to get the job done.

Let’s get going before that first big wave of Baby Boomers begins to retire.

Dec 2007 Notes

July 2007 Notes