A
recent survey has found that 83% of manufacturers are faced with a moderate or
severe shortage of skilled production workers to hire even with the unemployment
rate at 9%.
Union Pacific struggles to find enough electricians who have worked
with diesel engines. Manufacturers in many places can't find enough machinists.
Oil companies must fight for a limited supply of drilling-rig workers. "There's
a tremendous shortage of skilled workers," said Craig Giffi, a vice chairman of
the consulting firm Deloitte.
Pay levels provide evidence. While hourly wages in the broad category
of maintenance and repair workers rose 6.4% from 2007 to 2010, increases were
10% in the subcategory of heavy-vehicle mechanics and 15% for specialists in
electrical repairs on commercial and industrial equipment. The implication is
that employers were competing for a limited pool of qualified workers.
The Deloitte study found that 74% of manufacturers said a shortage of
skilled production workers had a "significant negative impact" on either their
productivity or expansion plans. WSJ.com
AHT/DB
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