Hundreds of local factory positions remain open By Thomas Olson The image of the padlocked factory gate should be replaced with a big "Help Wanted" sign — at least in southwestern Pennsylvania. "It's tough to find somebody. We have a couple openings right now," said Jack Snyder, the foreman at Bailey Machine Co. in Connellsville, Fayette County. A general shop for stone quarry and steel-making equipment, the family-held business has trouble finding welders and machinists these days. And Bailey Machine is hardly alone. According to a survey released Monday by an arm of Duquesne University, area manufacturers are having trouble filling hundreds of factory positions here, despite an ongoing economic slowdown. Almost 1,300 manufacturing jobs in the nine-county region are wanting for people to fill them, according to a twice-annual survey by Duquesne's Center for Competitive Workforce Development. "The steady demand for skilled production workers suggests that, despite the challenges currently facing the regional manufacturing sector, it continues to display strength in its high-end segment where technology and advanced worker training are of central importance," said Silvio Baretta, the local center's director of research. In fact, the center's survey last spring found that area manufacturers had about 2,500 positions going unfilled. The center last fall surveyed 606 manufacturing companies in the region, which is home to some 3,600 manufacturers employing about 160,000 people. More than one in eight local manufacturers had one or more open positions last fall, the survey said. Last spring, the "help wanted" ratio of businesses was even higher, at nearly one in five. In fact, Blawnox-based Lake Region Medical Inc. has five positions open, said human resources manager Greg Mauro. His company, which makes guide wires for medical exploratory procedures, needs people to do general assembly or operate coil winders and grinders. "I find a lot of people lack the necessary, core work ethic," said Mauro, whose company employs 285. "People don't seem to see why they need to show up for work on time every day and to give it their best effort." Area manufacturers' most acute need is for production workers, the survey said. That includes machinists, assemblers, fabricators, welders and plant system operators. Average pay for these jobs was $11.24 an hour. For the higher skilled and more technical positions, pay ranged from $12 to $23 an hour. The center's survey also found 67 percent of the manufacturing positions require a high school education and, sometimes, not even that much. "Coming out of school, kids are told to go to college or they won't be anything. So, they don't want to get their hands dirty," Snyder said. "The average age of a machinist is probably about 60 years," he said. Copyright 2003, Tribune-Review Publishing Co. Reprinted with permission. |
