Manufacturing in Ohio
Manufacturing is responsible for almost 18 percent of the state’s gross domestic product. It contributes:
More than 500,000 jobs.
An annual payroll of more than $38 billion.
More than $34 billion in products to more than 213 countries and territories.
Source: Ohio Manufacturing Association
A cardboard box in Mike Shroder’s office is filled with disqualified employment applications from 2010. On his desk are a couple of more stacks of applications that have accumulated during the past few months.
Those too are disqualified applications.
“It’s just not easy finding people who are fit to be employed,” said Shroder, the manager of human resources at Mohawk Fine Papers, a manufacturer of high-end paper in Hamilton.
“It’s a problem,” he said.
Job opportunities may be slim but some manufacturing employers are reporting problems the other way around.
They can’t find workers with the basic skills needed to retain a job. Such skills include problem-solving capabilities or a willingness to work cooperatively. Even finding workers able to show up on time can be a challenge.
“We’ve had some employees terminated over those exact reasons,” said Jason Marshall of Middletown’s Midwest Switch Gear Services. “We’ve had very little luck trying to find people outside of personal recommendations, and even that’s spotty.”
Manufacturing jobs are vital to the state and local economy. Manufacturing was the top private-sector employer, comprising 14.11 percent of Ohio jobs in 2008, higher than health care and retail trade, second only to government, according to a 2010 Ohio Manufacturing Association report.
Marshall said his company — which employs about 35 workers and specializes in the remanufacture of circuit breakers for power plants and large industry — could use two or three more workers. Marshall said the company is sometimes weary of younger workers who, in the past, have not been willing to put in the time or effort.
“It’s a lack of motivation,” he said. “You could scrub something fast or you could scrub something slow, so they just go ahead and scrub it slow.”
Manufacturers say they are grappling with three challenges, all being felt at about the same time: Advancing technology means companies need workers with greater skill and problem-solving ability. Older workers, many of them baby boomers, are retiring in increasing numbers. And during the recent recession, many manufacturers admit they simply let too many workers go.
“There are good manufacturing jobs that are not being filled because the talent pipeline was allowed to erode,” said John Gajewski, executive director of manufacturing for the Workforce and Economic Development Division of Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland. “And now we have to develop that talent pipeline.”
The necessary skills are those that cannot be formally tested, and are not included in a teacher’s lesson plan.
“It’s the soft skills that are in shortage,” said Eric Burkland, president of the Ohio Manufacturing Association. “It’s things like passing a drug test. It’s coming to work on time.”
Gajewski estimates that some 200,000 “replacement workers” will be needed for Ohio manufacturing jobs in the next five years, as older workers retire. He believes it will take a partnership of community colleges, universities, businesses and government to begin to fill that gap.
Ohio is poised for a “manufacturing renaissance” with workers and infrastructure in place to meet increased demand for automobiles, aerospace materials and more, Burkland believes. But that possible renaissance is endangered by a lack of young people drawn to the field, he said.
“We in manufacturing need to do a better job of communicating the opportunities that are available in manufacturing, and we need our public partners to assist in that,” Burkland said.
There need to be “fewer walls” between educators and the manufacturing community, Burkland said, adding that he wants to see a return to job apprenticeships, internships and co-ops. “Those are programs that work, and we know they work.”
Gajewski believes educators, parents and students need to see manufacturing with fresh eyes.
A career in manufacturing “is a viable option, and it’s very important and honorable,” Gajewski said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or asedlak@coxohio.com.
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