HELP WANTED: slackers and math deficients need not apply

The baby boom ka-boom! is about to resound.

With an average age for production workers falling between 40 and 59, it”™s not surprising the state”™s manufacturing sector will soon find itself in need of hiring replacement workers.

Here”™s the rub.

Skilled replacements are lacking, according to the Connecticut Business & Industry Association”™s 2007 Survey of Current and Future Manufacturing Jobs in Connecticut.

Due to a host of economic speed bumps, most notably affordable housing, there has been an exodus, a veritable brain drain. Young, skilled workers are moving to states that are more accommodating to their cost-of-living needs.

Nationwide, the manufacturing sector continued to expand last month.

Among the leading industries reporting growth, according to the Institute for Supply Management, were: petroleum and coal products; apparel, leather and allied products; electrical equipment, appliances and components; and food, beverage and tobacco products. In the nonmanufacturing sector, health care and social assistance, retail trade, utilities, and transportation and warehousing posted growth.

Fifty percent of those responding to the CBIA survey expect having to replace anywhere from 6 percent to 20 percent of their workers due to retirement over the next five years. Add to the mix the response of 86 percent who say they need to add workers due to expansion or new products.

The most difficult position to fill, at 56 percent, is for CNC programmers, those who create programs for computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines that shape metal or other materials to form a finished part. The four remaining positions that were deemed difficult to fill according to the survey are: CNC machinists, 54 percent; tool and die makers, 54 percent; machinists, 39 percent; and engineers, 31 percent.

And what are applicants lacking?

Nearly 60 percent need better technical/vocational skills and 54 percent need to brush up on their professional skills. And as always rearing its ugly head, basic math, reading, writing and problem-solving skills were lacking among 48 percent.

Not that the current crop of workers is beloved by management: 48 percent don”™t have an acceptable work ethic and 39 percent find math to be a foreign concept. Compare these numbers to those crunched in 2005, when only 6 percent were considered to have a poor work ethic and 31 percent were math deficient.

Pretty scary numbers considering that talented, skilled workers are what make manufacturers competitive in today”™s international marketplace.

“Connecticut manufacturers have a willingness and desire to innovate and grow, but they will need to counteract the compound effects,” said Peter Gioia, CBIA vice president and economist.

So, who do we blame? The schools for graduating students lacking the basics? Manufacturing for not pushing for more school-trade education programs? Or ourselves for letting this get out of hand?

Manufacturers typically draw from high school and technical high school graduates for their source of labor. And as such, the respondents were less satisfied with the candidates. They were satisfied with the quality of job candidates graduating from private four-year colleges and universities, 83 percent; UConn, 74 percent; the Connecticut State University System, 74 percent; and community colleges, 67 percent.

The disconnect needs to be fixed.

“In order to sustain a strong manufacturing climate, we must continue to develop partnerships with educational institutions and manufacturers to ensure that Connecticut students are graduating with the skills needed to be successful in the future, while providing the manufacturing industry with the robust labor pool it needs to be innovative and thrive in the future,” said Lauren Weisberg Kaufman, CBIA vice president of education and job training and executive director of the CBIA Education Foundation.

Some 83 percent of manufacturers said they already have on-site training in place. All well and good, but if the candidates come walking through the door lacking in basics ”“ from work ethic to math skills ”“ then perhaps the onus should be placed on the schools or as Kaufman points out, on developing stronger business-education alliances.

Nearly 60 percent of manufacturers also suggested that state government develop an ongoing manufacturing careers campaign in helping them find qualified workers. Fifty-eight percent also suggested increasing the number and quality of technical school graduates. But based on the quality of the candidates now emerging from these schools, perhaps it”™s best to first improve the quality before adding more to the system.

But before relying on the government for assistance, manufacturers should make themselves more known in their communities via job fairs at high schools to show students what”™s available. Internships are a great way to give students hands-on experience to see if the job suits them. If the schools aren”™t cutting it for the manufacturers, then bring back the apprentice, journeyman and master professional job delineations of old. It could only make the talent pool more reliable than the current one.