Skilled-Worker Shortage Is Exaggerated, Says Study

[OhioChick]

Source: USA Today

Published: Monday, 15 Oct 2012 | 10:45 AM ET

A shortage of skilled manufacturing workers that's blamed for helping push up unemployment is far smaller than believed, according to a study out today.

The study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) says manufacturers may have openings they can't fill, but it's not because workers aren't out there. It's because companies are being too selective about who they hire and are unwilling to pay a competitive wage.

The report acknowledges a mild skills gap. U.S. manufacturers could use an additional 80,000 to 100,000 highly skilled employees — less than 1% of all factory workers and less than 8% of highly skilled workers, the study says. Workers in highest demand are welders, machinists and mechanics.


Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/49416411

[iandhr]

1. I am shocked SHOCKED to find that gambling is going on here.

[flamingdem]

2. Good. Let's not blame "dumb" workers when the cause is cheap corporations nt

[madrchsod]

3. ya right ..this is the same bullshit i ran into in the 80`s

i worked in the metal forming industry in the 70`s. the place i worked paid the second highest level of pay in the area. during the 80`s i was turned down for jobs because i made to much money and i would go back to my old job. it was`t until 88 that i got a job in my profession.

there`s plenty of skilled help but employers do not want to pay for experience.

[Arctic Dave]

4. Jeez, I could have told them that.

This has been going on for a while.

Not only for skilled labor but non skilled labor also. Companies are toofucking cheap to pay a good wage.

[Brigid]

10. We all could have told them that.

I don't know what we're supposed to do with companies that would rather leave jobs unfilled than to pay a livable wage. And they wonder why there are grumblings going around that companies are deliberately not hiring because CEOs don't like who is in the White House.

[Bigredhunk]

5. Bingo!

They'll try to sell us that it's our fault. In reality, they just keep moving the goalposts. People get trained for Job A...oops!...now we need you trained for Job B instead. Have 2 people (afraid of losing their jobs) do the work of 3...outsource a little...problem solved.

[SnakebiteSnakebite74]

6. don't forget; hire the vet

They say they can't find people to run their computer operated laser guided hi tech equipment in a clean air conditioned factory?! How about someone who can run computer operated laser guided hi tech equipment in a FREAKING DESERT OR MOUNTAINS UNDER HOSTILE GUN FIRE!! There's only about 250,000 of them looking for work.

[HughBeaumont]

7. I'm not sure what I'm more shocked at . . .

. . . the fact that this meme-straying story is seeing the light of day (not like any of US didn't already know) or that it's CNBC (a Republican outhouse) reporting it.

[midnight]

8. Companies are too greedy to pay for what they want so they will blame the work for lacking in skill

sets... AKA open door to work visas for those who will do the job cheaper.... Nafta just keeps on giving the greedy everything...

[ProfessionalLeftist]

9. Hardly a surprise. Pfft. n/t

[Fumesucker]

11. I've got it here somewhere under all this other junk.. Hold on a sec... Ah, here it is.

[Thor_MN]

12. Companies bought automated, high tech equipment and laid off people

Now they need to hire people to replace some of the people that were trained when the equipment was purchased, but they don't want to pay to train anyone. They want the new employees to know how to run the equipment before they walk into the building. So they piss and moan about skills gaps - that they caused. They had no issues trining before the new equipment went in, but they have an unreasonable expectation that the equipment will solve all their problems and they never ever have to train employees to use it.

[Sirveri]

13. I'm going to school for this right now, some of these companies are cheap bastards.

TIG weld aluminum for 10$/hr.

FUCK YOU. How the hell is a human supposed to make their mortgage on wages like that in the SF Bay Area?

At least the Shell Refinery pays decent, 18-19$/hr just to shadow a guy on an internship.

Screwed up thing is that they get some young kid just out of the weld program to do it who is living with his parents, all because they're cheap bastards. Then you've got all this anti-union poison flying around. Hello, why do you think Unions were formed in the first place? Meanwhile we could work for minimum wage and they'd still complain they couldn't find anyone, then outsource to China or bring in a pile of H1-B workers. Because screw the community, it's all about making the man on top richer and richer and richer.