Manufacturers Desperate For Younger Workers

[HartfordTycoon]

[Lowerdeck]

"It's very, very difficult to find skilled people in the market. And it doesn't seem like the newest generation of kids is excited by these jobs, which is upsetting because they pay so well," said Alain Berube, president and CEO of MTU Aero N.A.

HBJ Article

Why is no one going after these jobs? I'm seriously going to have to speak to some people I know who could use a real career path about this.

[doz180]

A few years ago I worked in several factories in Connecticut. I worked hard for very little money. I worked next to white/black/asian/latino from both urban and small town Connecticut. There were also a lot of Dominican/Puerto Rican recent transplants from the Bronx and "alto" Manhattan working there. We all worked hard for the same lousy pay. I worked in Bridgeport, Waterbury, and Torrington. So Lowerdeck wants to make it seem like only the Eastern part of the state is working hard??? Give me a break.

In the places I worked the Machinists and the maintenance techs were making decent money, the rest of us were just considered "unskilled" labor. The majority of machinists got their training in technical high schools. There is still a demand for those skills, but it is more important to consider the long term economic trends. Most of our factories have been moved overseas, and the few that are left stateside can't compete with the cheap labor and lack of regulation in China, so who thinks they are going to have a decent future working in a machine shop in the USA?

[MadVlad]

A few years ago I worked in several factories in Connecticut. I worked hard for very little money. I worked next to white/black/asian/latino from both urban and small town Connecticut. There were also a lot of Dominican/Puerto Rican recent transplants from the Bronx and "alto" Manhattan working there. We all worked hard for the same lousy pay. I worked in Bridgeport, Waterbury, and Torrington. So Lowerdeck wants to make it seem like only the Eastern part of the state is working hard??? Give me a break.

In the places I worked the Machinists and the maintenance techs were making decent money, the rest of us were just considered "unskilled" labor. The majority of machinists got their training in technical high schools. There is still a demand for those skills, but it is more important to consider the long term economic trends. Most of our factories have been moved overseas, and the few that are left stateside can't compete with the cheap labor and lack of regulation in China, so who thinks they are going to have a decent future working in a machine shop in the USA?

[MadVlad]

A few years ago I worked in several factories in Connecticut. I worked hard for very little money. I worked next to white/black/asian/latino from both urban and small town Connecticut. There were also a lot of Dominican/Puerto Rican recent transplants from the Bronx and "alto" Manhattan working there. We all worked hard for the same lousy pay. I worked in Bridgeport, Waterbury, and Torrington. So Lowerdeck wants to make it seem like only the Eastern part of the state is working hard??? Give me a break.

In the places I worked the Machinists and the maintenance techs were making decent money, the rest of us were just considered "unskilled" labor. The majority of machinists got their training in technical high schools. There is still a demand for those skills, but it is more important to consider the long term economic trends. Most of our factories have been moved overseas, and the few that are left stateside can't compete with the cheap labor and lack of regulation in China, so who thinks they are going to have a decent future working in a machine shop in the USA?

[Lowerdeck]

I worked in Bridgeport, Waterbury, and Torrington. So Lowerdeck wants to make it seem like only the Eastern part of the state is working hard??? Give me a break.

[doz180]

Some recent losses of CT manufacturing are New Haven Copper in Seymour and Hershey's plant in Naugatuck.

New Haven Copper has been in Seymour over 100 years and employed 50 people. And the Hershy's plant has been in Naugatuck for 80 years and employed 200 people.

Where are the Hershey's jobs going?? Mexico.

[HartfordTycoon]

Some recent losses of CT manufacturing are New Haven Copper in Seymour and Hershey's plant in Naugatuck.

New Haven Copper has been in Seymour over 100 years and employed 50 people. And the Hershy's plant has been in Naugatuck for 80 years and employed 200 people.

Where are the Hershey's jobs going?? Mexico.

[jcrc]

So the HBJ article is bogus? I read about something similar to HBJ's article in USA Today about 3 months ago. There is a shortage of skillful blue collar workers and all it take is going to technical high school to get the skill. So what if the long term trend is moving away from manufacturing. In the short term, these jobs beat McD, unemployment or crime. By the way for those who don't know the stats, while US has been moving manufacturing jobs first from Norheast to South, then to Mexico and now to China and India, 50% of US economy is still in manufacturing, and the CT's largest employer United Technologies is in the business of manufacturing. If you look at Boeing's backlog of $262 billion, that's a lot of engines for Pratt and Whitney. There will be manufacturing jobs in the US and in CT for a long time.

I play tennis with welder from Portugal who works in Windor for a machine shop that do subcontracting works for MTU, ABB and United Technologies. He has no problem leaving his homeland and be a blue collar worker in the US, and he has to make decent money to play indoor tennis at Glastonbury Tennis Club.

[doz180]

By the way for those who don't know the stats, while US has been moving manufacturing jobs first from Norheast to South, then to Mexico and now to China and India, 50% of US economy is still in manufacturing,.....

[HartfordTycoon]

50% in manufacturing, are you kidding me????

The real statistics are available from the Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics:

www.bls.gov/iag/manufacturing.htm

The United States used to be the largest exporter of finished goods, now we primarily export raw materials and import almost all of our finished goods. And don't forget last years trade DEFECIT was the largest ever in this country. And don

[lastvisiblerat]

Amen to that! Why some people don't see that I'll never know.

[HartfordTycoon]

The public is easily distracted from actual important issues by fear mongering and boogeymen. Even though Suzie Security Mom has a better chance of being gummed to death by a pack of toothless Rottweilers than being blown up by Al Qaeda, she will still base her vote on who is going to protect her children from the terrorists rather than who will protect her childrens' abilities to get jobs when they grow up. While the public is being distracted our nation's financial foundation is being slowly dismantled and pulled out from under us.

[doz180]

I think a big part of the problem is that most Americans still see these large multi-nationals as still being American companies.

[MadVlad]

I have an answer for where the young people are going: out of State. If I was 18 years old, and I could get a job in some bleak factory in Ansonia (an example), or move to Florida and do something else for basically similar pay, I can see the draw of that.

[drc72]