Page 45 - CNC West web Feb March 2022

machinists. The first is a large group of shops that are paying big money to hire experienced machinists to be “heavy hitters” and hoping they will fill their needs. This situation is great for people who already have the skills and experience businesses are looking for as the laws of supply and demand are working in their favor. The negative is that this has essentially become a wage war, making it difficult to bring in and mentor new talent. Top paid “heavy hitters” are typically expected to be high producers on day one, which disincentivizes mentoring their junior colleagues – often compounded by the feeling that they would be training their replacement. Lastly, much like arms races, wage races typically end in expensive
“wins” for some and
The second group of
a variety of activities with
and vocational programs
train new talent. Few
thoughtfully structured
or apprenticeship
to their local vocational
companies have great
see fewer returns. These
exercise, the outcome
the focus and quality
them. There are select
engaging successfully
to both recruit and invest
generation of workers, it just takes effort and consistency. The last group are not engaged at solving the problems ahead. There are many valid reasons why a business may not be able to make an investment in hiring and training, but these are the companies that face the biggest challenges ahead.
Closing thoughts:
It’s surprisingly hard for me to sit behind my keyboard and pick apart an industry that has been so good to me, my family, and so many friends of mine. But there is no doubt that impending challenges are ahead of us. My hope in sharing my thoughts is not to prescribe a fix-all solution or forecast total doom, but to share some action-provoking thoughts and perspectives. There are a thousand valid perspectives on this topic but without action nothing gets better. I believe most of our industry would benefit significantly by honestly reflecting on how welcoming and inclusive their workplace is to new talent, new perspectives, and new technology. I get the sense that a lot of people in our industry are feeling that their efforts to invest in the next generation of machinists would be a futile exercise. I personally feel that my efforts
can make it better, but no single effort will be enough to fully turn things around. That said, if a third of the manufacturing businesses in our industry worked more closely with their communities to champion precision manufacturing, invested more in in-house mentoring, and developed stronger apprenticeships programs, maybe our future workforce outlook would take a turn towards good.
costly ruin for most. companies participate in their local community to help recruit and companies have
and effective internship programs connected programs. Some of the success while others activities are much like is directly related to
of the work put into examples of companies with their community in training their next
CNC WEST February/March 2022 www.CNC-West.com 43