Re: Weldors easier to find -- WSJ
- From: "Jim" <nospam@wherever>
- Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2009 16:12:10 -0600
"Ignoramus7409" <ignoramus7409@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:5sOdnbBnOfgwsL7XnZ2dnUVZ_oWdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124364469500668205.html
Manufacturers Get Top Talent for Hard-to-Fill Jobs
By JOE BARRETT
BETTENDORF, Iowa -- The economic downturn has a silver lining for
manufacturers whose sales haven't plummeted: a flood of highly
qualified candidates even for tough-to-fill jobs like electricians and
mechanics.
In December, Schebler Co., a metal fabricator specializing in
industrial chimneys with 165 employees in this Mississippi River
manufacturing hub, placed an ad for welders and other jobs. With the
economic slowdown just settling in, Chief Executive Jim Anderson said
he got 11 applicants, many with little experience.
Welders like Kerry Krebs of Schebler Co. are normally in short supply,
but companies hiring now are finding plenty of workers to choose from.
In March, he placed another ad and netted 154 applicants, many with
more than 10 years of experience. "The volume was up," Mr. Anderson
said, "but the quality really ratcheted up."
He has hired six welders in recent months as business at the $30
million-a-year company has held fairly steady, including a recent
order for a chimney at the new Yankee Stadium in New York. Now
Mr. Anderson worries what will happen when large area manufacturers
such as Deere & Co. and Alcoa Inc. start hiring again.
"It'll be interesting to see if we can hold on to [workers], but I
think we will," he said.
Manufacturers have been complaining for more than a decade about how
the aging of the worker population and young people's aversion to the
factory floor have created a lack of skilled workers, especially
welders, machinists and mechanics. In a study by Manpower
Inc. released Thursday, employers said skilled/manual trades are the
third-hardest jobs to fill after engineers and nurses.
Still, with steep slowdowns in areas such as auto making, mining and
construction, manufacturers that supply those industries have been
laying off workers in droves, shedding about 1.2 million jobs from
September to April, according to the U.S. Labor Department. That is
freeing up workers for manufacturers in areas that are still faring
decently, such as food production, specialty metal work and other
sectors.
"Some of the smaller companies are more versatile and can hop around
and fill niches" that hold up better than the big areas where the
major manufacturers dominate, said Hank Cox, a spokesman for the
National Association of Manufacturers in Washington.
In Baltimore, Marlin Steel Wire Products, a maker of wire baskets for
industrial applications, expects revenue of $4.5 million this year, up
from a record $3.5 million last year, said President Drew
Greenblatt. The company has been steadily adding workers, bringing the
payroll to 27 from 17 at the start of 2008.
Eighteen months ago, as the economy chugged along, finding welders or
other skilled workers "was murder," Mr. Greenblatt said. "The only
people that were available were people that you didn't want working
for you, because they weren't very productive or they had all kinds of
drama. Now, we're getting great talent."
At Phoenix Closures Inc., a maker of plastic tops for food containers
in Naperville, Ill., sales are down only about 1% so far this year,
said President Bert Miller. The company has hired about six people
since November and has been pleased with the choices available, he
said.
Jeff Zimmerman, a 33-year-old with 14 years of factory experience, is
one. He was laid off last summer from a job with a plastic-mold
company that supplied a car maker. Hired in November as the night
production supervisor for the Phoenix plant, he has already
transferred his experience, instituting a system for tracking and
communicating production issues that has reduced downtime for certain
machines, he said. "They've treated me very well and they're still
working seven days a week," he said.
Specialized welders can still be tough to find. Ace Clearwater
Enterprises in Torrance, Calif., has grown to 244 employees from 166 a
year ago, and is still on the hunt for people who know how to weld the
thin aluminum parts it builds for the aerospace industry, said Gary
Johnson, vice president. "We could hire another 30 people if we could
find them," he said.
But for Jeff Manor, manager of a Kraft Foods Inc. Oscar Mayer
meat-processing plant just down the river from Bettendorf in
Davenport, Iowa, the slowdown has been a boon. In the past few years,
the plant has added hundreds of jobs, including 50 this year, as Kraft
has ramped up production of its Deli Shaved meats line and other
products.
Last year, the company spent $3,000 to $4,000 a month to advertise
jobs and held regular job fairs to fill openings. This year, it has
been filling positions with no advertising or fairs. "And we're hiring
some very qualified candidates," Mr. Manor said, some with five to 10
years of experience and college degrees.
Tough times have even made it easier to keep some workers. In recent
years, turnover at the Oscar Mayer plant -- essentially a giant
refrigerator with few windows -- has been as high as 40% of new hires,
Mr. Manor said. But in today's tough economy it is down to about
10%. "The entire plant is kept at 40 to 45 degrees," he said. "Some
folks don't like that."
Write to Joe Barrett at joseph.barrett@xxxxxxx
I'm holding out for a management position....LOL... Jim
.
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