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August 12, 2012

It Takes An Industry: Manufacturers Race Against The Clock To Fill Worker Gap

Photo/Matt Pilon Jason Shorette, an engineer with Methods Machine Tools in Sudbury, explains his job to a group of vo-tech students.

Bryon Deysher, CEO of Methods Machine Tools in Sudbury, stands at a podium before a group of more than 50 students in their late teens. This is certainly not an everyday activity.

Deysher and his employees, who normally make machines that are sold to machine shops around the world, have a different mission on this summer day. Instead of pitching their products to other manufacturers, they're pitching to more than 50 students in their mid-to-late teens, a group of whom are from Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School in Marlborough.

"You could work on golf clubs one day and joint strike fighters the next," Deysher says. "It could be artificial knees to hips to brain drills to the wheels on the Mars Rover."

Working in skilled manufacturing is a virtual guarantee of gainful employment, Deysher continues. And the industry has changed. No longer are manufacturing floors dirty and unsafe. Many are now a "white coat" environment.

Deysher's employees tell the students about all the places they've traveled to meet with customers and set up trade shows – like Europe and the Caribbean.

It's a pretty good pitch. But they might be preaching to the choir. These students are already headed down an educational path that will likely lead them into skilled manufacturing.

Catch 'Em Early

James Hanson, director of corporate development at Methods, admits as much.

"We do need to catch them earlier," Hanson said. "In fact, most of these [students] are in vo-tech channels already."

What manufacturers need is to draw more students into those vo-tech channels in the first place.

But give Methods credit, said Jack Healy, director of operations at the Worcester-based Manufacturing Advancement Center (MAC) and Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership. This type of youth outreach to which the company has committed itself is not the norm.

"It certainly needs to happen more," Healy said. "One of the unfortunate things for the manufacturing industry is we have a sort of standoffish way and think people are going to find their way to us."

The industry needs more individual efforts from manufacturers like Methods, and quickly, he said. Massachusetts is losing an estimated 300 skilled machinists each year to retirement, according to the MAC. The state is expected to lose about one third of its manufacturing workforce to retirement over the next decade.

A wave of retirements would be manageable if there were younger, trained workers ready to step into the roles. But a generation of parents is reluctant to encourage their children to pursue careers in manufacturing, Healy said. And technology is rapidly changing the types of skills employers look for in potential employees. Many who have looked for workers cite a "skills gap" in the applicants they receive.

"We as manufacturers need to have an "A-ha" moment and realize we're in a critical stage of the game here," said Cathy Phillips, co-owner of Phillips Precision in Boylston. "We'll be out of business without skilled labor."

A Plan Of Action

The MAC is working with a group of 63 companies from MetroWest and the Worcester area, with a strong assist from Assabet Valley Regional and several area colleges, to modernize the industry's image through a formal credentialing system. (Think plumber's licenses, but for skilled machinists.)

Bryant LaFlamme, an instructor in Assabet's precision machining department, helped spearhead the creation of a teaching framework in 2006. Now, he and others are pushing for state education officials to officially adopt the framework as a licensure program.

LaFlamme said if the economy rebounds further, and manufacturers backlogs grow, many won't be able to handle the load. In an odd way, some manufacturers can be thankful there isn't more work, he said.

LaFlamme is in contact with dozens of area manufacturers. He agrees with Healy on the industry's perception problem. But he said the perception simply isn't true anymore, for the most part.

"Employers are now meeting with parents and outlining what their child's steps are going to be – advanced training, tuition reimbursement, they go into 401(k)s," LaFlamme said.

Such strategies can work, especially if a student is already leaning toward robotics or engineering.

But LaFlamme said the precision machining program at Assabet sometimes struggles to attract more students. The program graduates only about a dozen each year.

He thinks it's because the other programs result in certificates that give students a sense of security. So even though there are plenty of jobs to be had for trained machinists, some students may be avoiding it.

"Manufacturing has never had credentialing," he said.

Part of the reason for that, he said, is that area manufacturers are diverse; they all tend to have different niches, machines and processes.

So figuring out the most basic level of certification is a challenge.

"There's a lot of compromise," he said. "It comes down to: What is the absolute minimum core?"

The efforts have made some progress. The state Department of Education implemented an educational "framework" in 2006 based on the MAC's recommendations. But the next step the manufacturers want to see is an official credential.

LaFlamme said the idea is to create a pathway for further advancement at the college level and with work experience at manufacturing facilities. That way, students get a broad range of experience in the skill areas employers value.

"Sometimes, you can get someone with 30 years of experience that did one thing," he said.

The Machinist's Code

Scott Ferrecchia, owner of Lincoln Tool and Machine in Hudson, understands the problem an aging workforce presents to his company.

Of his 35 employees, more than half are over the age of 50.

"I'm going to two 60th birthday parties this year," Ferrecchia said. "That means I'm not going to have these guys in five years."

So what's a job shop owner to do? Ferrecchia (who is Phillips' cousin) could try to poach from another area shop. But he said he avoids that strategy. And many others do, too. It's a slippery slope and many shops view it as unethical.

"There are a few shops that don't play well in the sandbox with anybody, but for the most part, we do," he said.

Instead, he makes do with the trickle of machinists coming out of high school technical programs in Massachusetts. There are less than 300 of those this year. And only 25 percent plan to enter the workforce directly rather than move on to college or other options, according to the MAC.

Shops understand they will need to train and develop their new hires, Ferrecchia said, but they need a base of skills from which to begin. Lincoln Tool has automated its production and testing in recent years. It uses robots and computers to do many of its tasks, and new hires need to have some grasp of the new technology.

"Skilled labor is an extreme shortage," he said. "Anyone who's worth their salt or is any good at their trade is working."

Phillips said she thinks some of her fellow manufacturers are pretending the impending retirement problem doesn't exist. Some are older and are perhaps "kicking the can down the road," she said.

But some are already having problems filling open positions. And it's not going to get better on its own.

"They're going to stomp their feet and have a little tantrum at the end when they finally realize how big the need is," she said. n

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