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Manufacturing labor pool said to lack skills

Few people enter sector, which might be headed for major worker shortage

Mike MacKay, president of MacKay Manufacturing Inc., of Spokane, and others here say high schools mostly don’t promote manufacturing careers.

Roger Ingbretsen, a consultant hired by the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce, says the manufacturing sector here could be headed toward a labor crisis because the current and future work force lacks basic math, reasoning, and English skills.

Also, fewer people are applying for manufacturing jobs, and fewer young adults are enrolled in vocational programs geared to help them secure careers in that sector, Ingbretsen says.

“There is a gap between the baby boomers, who are about to retire, the people in their mid-40s, and young people in the work force,” Ingbretsen says. He says labor supply for manufacturers is “going to be a real problem in the near future.”

Ingbretsen surveyed nearly 50 manufacturers and education training centers in the Spokane region to learn what competencies and skills are needed by the current and future manufacturing work force.

The project covered job requirements from entry level to engineering level jobs and identified gaps between manufacturers’ needs and what the education system offers, says Rich Hadley, president and CEO of the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s a general statement, but the education system is not preparing people for the work force,” Ingbretsen says. “There is no easy solution to what I personally think is a societal problem. We can all look in the mirror.”

By Marc Stewart

Full Story: http://spokanejournal.com/spokane_id=article&sub=2396

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