You may have untapped talent

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’re aware of the manufacturing worker shortage and its impact on machine shops. We all have stories about the difficulty of finding passionate, skilled workers. It’s not a good situation when your company’s future potential is limited by an inability to fill critical positions.

Most young adults perceive manufacturing jobs as dirty and dull, when, in reality, the design, development and creation of a machined part is an incredible example of creativity and workmanship, worthy of a very competitive salary. Educating high school and college students about these opportunities is the responsibility of all of us and requires consistent effort.

When I teach elementary school students for Junior Achievement, explaining my business and showing samples of the parts we produce, the children are captivated. They enjoy holding, examining and hearing about the parts. They’re like little sponges, soaking up my excitement and eventually pointing out machined and fabricated metal parts in their classrooms.

It pleases me to confidently tell these kids that they’ll have opportunities in our industry. When I leave a class, they’re more knowledgeable and excited about manufacturing than they were before. If it wasn’t for me explaining it to them, they probably wouldn’t hear about it.