The economy is strong, but manufacturers are having trouble filling jobs.
by Steve Kaelble
Indiana's jobless rate as 2015 wound down was holding steady at 4.4 percent. That's as low as it has been in a decade and a half, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
That's fantastic news, right? All in all, it's a good sign for the workers of Indiana, a sign of what economists refer to as “full employment.”
But it's a sign of a potential challenge for many Indiana employers. The lower the number of unemployed workers looking for opportunities, the harder it is to find good candidates when a job opens up, whether it's a brand-new job in an expanding company or a vacancy resulting from an employee's departure. It's particularly troubling in the case of jobs that require special skills, including a lot of manufacturing roles.
“It's a huge issue for Northwest Indiana,” says Linda Woloshansky, president and CEO of the Center of Workforce Innovations. “We have an incredible concentration of manufacturing jobs, and manufacturing contributes over $12 billion to our economy in Northwest Indiana. It's 33 percent of our gross regional product.”
It's not just Northwest Indiana, in fact. Indiana as a whole leads the country in manufacturing employment–nearly 17 percent of Hoosier workers get their paychecks from a manufacturer. There's strong competition for workers in most employment sectors, but the competition is particularly fierce in manufacturing.
Why's that? “Part of the reason is the lack of people skilled in the technologies manufacturers use currently or want to upgrade to later,” says Niaz Latif, dean of the College of Technology at Purdue University Calumet and executive director of the university's Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center.
It takes training to develop skills, Latif notes, “and it takes a commitment to get trained,” he says. Problem is, a lot of people simply don't understand the great career potential that can be found in manufacturing. “People may perceive that it's a low-paying job.”
Such misperceptions point to one of the first important strategies for resolving the labor shortages facing manufacturing–awareness. Woloshansky says there are a number of initiatives across the region aimed at helping make young people and other potential workers aware of the opportunities provided by such fields as manufacturing.
READY NWI is short for Regional Education and Employer Alliance for Developing Youth in Northwest Indiana, and it's involved in that awareness effort. Among other things, READY NWI has produced a series of videos spotlighting employment opportunities across the region, including some in manufacturing. Young people can watch and learn what it's like to work at such places as Task Force Tips in Valparaiso or Tri-State Industries in Hammond. In the videos, says Woloshansky, “Young people talk about why they got into manufacturing.”
Local manufacturers also are partnering with schools to invite students and adults to tour their facilities. One initiative had more than a hundred employers onboard, opening their plants and sending representatives to career days. Woloshansky says more than 8,000 students benefited from that particular effort.
There are also manufacturing-related materials available for school leaders, helping them to spread the word. “If a teacher or counselor or principal knows more about manufacturing, they can do a better job of promoting it,” Woloshansky says.
Awareness is, of course, just the beginning. Just because someone becomes interested in a manufacturing career, that doesn't mean he or she can walk right in and land a job. It takes the right skills, and manufacturers are finding it difficult to find enough applicants with the right skills, even if they get a tall stack of applications. Some Indiana manufacturers have lamented that it takes a pool of 10 or more applicants to come across just one with the skills needed to do the job.
“Many employers we deal with are small- to medium-sized manufacturing companies that are having difficulty finding the right people,” says Latif. “They're looking for qualified individuals who can troubleshoot, fix and maintain existing equipment, and who will be able to integrate new technology in their processes.” They're looking, but they're not necessarily finding.
The problem stands to get even worse as the Baby Boom generation searches for the “exit” doors. “We have a lot of folks retiring from manufacturing,” Woloshansky says. “A lot of jobs are going unfilled and existing jobs are opening up. They need to be filled, but a higher-level skill set will be needed.”
That's where such programs as Project: AWAKE come into play. AWAKE stands for Assisting Workforce by Advancing Knowledge for Employment, and Purdue University Calumet landed $2.7 million in federal funding to get the project going.
Project: AWAKE is aimed specifically at filling the need for workers in advanced manufacturing. The program is available at no cost to veterans, displaced workers and those deemed to be under-skilled, along with Trade Adjustment Assistance eligible workers. Participants study for 21 weeks and graduate from the program prepared to gain certification in a variety of areas, including mechanical components, industrial electricity and programmable logic controllers.
Latif says 17 cohorts of trainees have made it through the program, and there's funding in place for three more cohorts. At least a few dozen people have landed new jobs as a result of the training, and nearly a dozen who already had jobs have earned raises or promotions. More than 125 people have earned certifications. Some, in fact, have earned more than one, because the total number of certifications earned is about 200.
About two-thirds of those who start the program make it all the way through, according to stats from Project: AWAKE. Nearly a quarter are veterans, all have high school diplomas or GEDs, and their median age is 38.
“This is what keeps us going,” says Latif. “Why we're so excited is that I believe we have the ability to transform individual lives.”
It takes a whole lot of hands to make a difference in the region's workforce-development situation. For Project: AWAKE, for example, “we have been very fortunate to be partnered with the Center of Workforce Innovations,” Latif says. “They help the participants by providing career counseling and helping them find jobs.”
“We do most things in partnership with others,” Woloshansky agrees.
Other partners addressing the challenge include WorkOne Northwest Indiana, with a full range of services for job-seekers, employers and area youths. Among many other services, the organization helps connect those in need of training with scholarship funding to help foot the bill. The agency also hosts events aimed at matching job hunters with the right employers. Keeping watch over such efforts is the Northwest Indiana Workforce Board, which brings together business, education, labor, community, faith-based and economic development leaders to set strategy for workforce development.
And then there are many more partners across the world of education. For example, Ivy Tech Community College has a full range of educational programs for students, along with the Ivy Tech Corporate College program that offers professional development training for employers of all sizes, with details that are customizable and flexible.
There are numerous other examples, across the region and in local communities. All of the various partners are working toward prosperity for the residents of their local areas, as well as for local employers. And all recognize that manufacturing is a job-creating force across Northwest Indiana, one that has a solid future. As Woloshansky notes, “People think manufacturing is going away, but it isn't in Northwest Indiana.”
