Where Has All of the Training Gone?

Many manufacturers being forced to replace formerly state-funded training with their own tailored programs to help attract and retain skilled employees still want the states to provide these educational services so they can focus on what they do best. Which way to go?

Apprenticeship and training programs are critical to the future of manufacturing. It goes without saying that training is extremely important to the future of manufacturing in the United States, yet in many states it still falls by the wayside as training for skilled manufacturing positions gets hit by a perfect storm of budget cuts and the mistaken idea that all young workers should go to college.

The training that does exist has a near-exclusive focus on non-manufacturing skills. Well-paid manufacturing jobs requiring manual skills are out there and, as the skilled workforce ages, it is becoming more and more difficult to fill critical positions with trained employees.

At Connecticut Spring & Stamping (CSS; Farmington, CT), the situation had become so desperate that to meet its capacity and continue to grow the company had to replace formerly state-funded training with its own programs, tailored to the skill sets required for tool and die makers and various spring coiler setup operations.

While a successful in-house program definitely has rewards and helps CSS attract and retain skilled employees, the company still maintains that states should go back to providing these educational services, so companies can focus on what they do best – hiring and manufacturing.

CSS is growing at a fairly rapid pace, about 20-30 percent each year. The company has been struggling for the past decade to get the qualified workers it needs to meet its capacity and expand its capabilities. For the 40 years before that, manufacturing facilities like CSS could rely on state-supported manufacturing sciences programs at local colleges and technical schools to train technical workers, including tool and die makers and spring coilers. But no more.

“As the manufacturing companies and jobs migrated to the South or overseas, the state began losing interest, and stopped funding these programs,” said Steve Dicke, vice president of sales and marketing at CSS. “We would run an ad for a spring set up person, and would rarely get any applicants with the proper training.” Dicke explains that he found many likely candidates were pursuing computer programming training. Although the manufacturing jobs at his shop do require computer literacy to program machines, they also require an additional set of manual skills – the ability to maneuver the parts and machines.

According to Dicke, the difficulty in finding skilled employees could slow long term growth and future capacity needs, and means that CSS has to rely on overtime in the short term. “Managers are working longer hours and are leaning harder on key employees to support customer needs. In addition, we have to look at new opportunities more carefully and do not take on an opportunity unless we know we can fully support it.”

The CSS director of human resources, Kathy Bellemare, explains that to become a certified skilled worker in Connecticut, individuals must complete apprenticeships comprised of 6000-8000 hours of on-the-job training (depending upon the specific job) and 432-600 hours of related training in a school-based setting. The company must be registered with the state apprenticeship program for the worker to participate.