SURVEY: Region's Manufacturers in Need of Workers By
Jim McKay March 17, 2005 -- Manufacturing has taken its licks in Pittsburgh but still remains a source of well-paying, middle-class jobs, particularly for those willing to learn skills in areas such as machining and welding, a new study concludes. There are an estimated 2,560 job openings at manufacturing companies in southwestern Pennsylvania, according to a new survey of employers conducted by Duquesne University's Center for Competitive Workforce Development and New Century Careers, a nonprofit training organization. The survey, conducted in the fall and released yesterday, concludes that the manufacturing sector in the 10-county region around Pittsburgh is mirroring national trends and improving after a prolonged slide. "I think manufacturing has rebounded nicely," Silvio Baretta, the center's research director and author of the study, told a small group of employers meeting at the SMC Business Councils headquarters in Churchill. After his presentation, Baretta acknowledged that the Pittsburgh region continued to struggle with new job creation, adding, "But certainly we are in better shape than we were two years ago in manufacturing." Baretta estimated that 71 percent of the job vacancies uncovered in the study were in production occupations. The best of those opportunities are skilled jobs that require training available through vocational, technical or community colleges. Individual companies needing workers were not identified in the survey, which was based on confidential replies from 701 manufacturers -- about 19 percent of the 3,710 companies asked to participate. The results were statistically generalized to reflect the experiences of the region's manufacturing sector. Because of the size of the sampling, Baretta said the results might be imperfect. "It is not really easy to ascertain job openings," he said. "We do the best that we can." Baretta said manufacturers in the region had openings for 1,086 skilled production workers, a significant increase from the spring of 2002 when a similar survey found there were 306 such jobs available. Skilled jobs have more staying power than unskilled positions. Baretta's research showed employees classified as unskilled were more likely to be laid off during downturns than those with hard-to-find skills. "These are the people you get rid of," Baretta told the employers as he went through a slide presentation of his results regarding unskilled workers. "The sense I get looking at these numbers is that you try very hard to hold on to the skilled workers." Most employers surveyed said it was either "very difficult" or "somewhat difficult" to find skilled production workers -- a growing concern for future years as their current work force of baby boomers nears retirement and will need to be replaced. There's a lesson there for young people looking into careers, Baretta said. An expensive college education is not necessarily the best path for everyone when there are jobs available that pay well and don't require going into debt to pay for school. But some training beyond high school is becoming more essential than ever for these jobs, he added. "Our message has to be if you want job security, get an education, get training, not necessarily a college education, but upgrade your skills," Baretta said. "That's the only way you are going to have something akin to job security because as an unskilled worker you really are at the mercy of the economy." Baretta broke down most of the manufacturing job vacancies into general types. He said there were 175 openings for assemblers and fabricators, 971 jobs for machinists and welders, 516 "other production jobs" and 341 vacancies for installation and maintenance work. The study probably underestimated the need for welders because the companies surveyed were limited to manufacturers, Baretta said. Welders also are employed in other industries including construction. While Baretta found starting pay for skilled work and unskilled work were not so far apart, skilled employees had more opportunities to see their wages grow with job experience. Average wages for all the vacancies was $12.55 an hour. Skilled jobs averaged $14.35 an hour but had opportunity for advancement with pay ranging from $10.29 an hour to $21.15 an hour. Most of the job vacancies included some benefits. The most common were health insurance coverage and paid vacation time. Openings for machinists and welders, segregated from other occupations because of their larger number, paid an average of $11.29 an hour. But again there was opportunity for advancement as pay ranged from $8 an hour to $18.75, Baretta said. Installation and maintenance workers, now often hired by companies that do contract work for other firms, pay in the range of $9 to $24 an hour. The available openings had a starting salary averaging $10.14. Although it is a well-known Pittsburgh dilemma that we are an older region with a declining population, Baretta said retirements were not the most prevalent reason behind the job vacancies. He said 77 percent of the job openings were tied to company growth. But retirements in manufacturing remain a looming problem. Baretta said 18 percent of the companies surveyed said half or more of their workers were at least 55 years old. A third, 33 percent, said a quarter or 25 percent of their employees were 55 or older. "If you are a 100-person shop and you have to replace 50 [employees] in the next few years, that is a tremendous task," Baretta said. "That is serious. I would not want to be the manager or the CEO of those companies."
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