Letters

MANUFACTURERS TO BLAME FOR SKILLS GAP

Re "It's Time To Fix The Kitchen Sink," Page 26, November 2005: I have to admit that I read this story with more than a little skepticism. How can we be experiencing a shortage of skilled manufacturing labor given the number of manufacturing jobs lost just

in the last five years? Most sources agree that about 2.5 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since President Bush took office in 2000. These people didn't simply disappear. I'm sure many of these are highly skilled and trained individuals who would be more than willing to learn new skills or relocate in order to fill the supposed shortfall in skilled labor.

If we truly do have a skills shortage, then manufacturers have to shoulder much of the blame. How much have they invested in training new employees or in enhancing the skills of existing employees? What have they done to ensure would-be manufacturing professionals that there is a future in manufacturing and their jobs won't be outsourced or offshored leaving them with limited career options? To address the skills shortage perhaps a revival of the apprenticeship system would be something worth exploring. And by working with government toward correcting the trade and currency imbalances that drive U.S. manufacturing out of the country or cause them to go out of business, American students might be convinced that manufacturing can indeed offer a long-term, rewarding career.