Skilled jobs go begging; Workers not high-tech enough, or flexible, manufacturers say

Managers of some Northeast Ohio manufacturing plants have been making a claim that seems to defy logic. Yet, there's every reason to think they're telling the truth.

They say they're having trouble finding skilled workers. The problem is hindering their businesses.

But hold on. Haven't industrial jobs been swirling down an open drain here for years as plants close or move?

Wouldn't it seem there should be experienced out-of-work machinists, welders and assembly personnel eager to snap up available jobs?

The answers: yes and yes. But changes in manufacturing have reshaped factory protocols and job descriptions worldwide in recent decades. The process has shaken up plants from China to Japan to Ohio.

Just in recent weeks, 370 workers in Middlefield learned Johnson Rubber Co. was closing and their jobs ending. Another 700, including steelworkers and welders, in Portage County, got pink slips as four plants prepared to shut down early this year or relocate abroad.

The region echoes with the sound of employees punching out from factories for the last time with years, even decades of experience. Still, plant managers say they confront a shortage of qualified workers.

Ron Rasmus swears it's true. "I've got tug boats to build, and I can't hire enough qualified welders and diesel mechanics," said the chief executive of Great Lakes Towing Co., whose shipyard is on Cleveland's near West Side.

Workers started last spring building the 110-year-old company's first mid-sized tugs - 74 feet long, 30 feet wide. Now, one floats nearly finished, and a second is taking shape.

The company leased more space to build the steel barges it ships to buyers from the Pacific Northwest to New York harbor, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast. Rasmus said only his too-small work force holds him back.

He is not alone. "Hiring good people is one of my greatest challenges," said Gary Gibb, president of Wrayco Industries Inc., an expanding metal fabrication business in Stow.

There are two reasons for this, said Judith Crocker, director of education and training at MAGNET, the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, a Cleveland non-profit organization that supports manufacturing through education and various services.

Even after a century of manufacturing focus and higher-than-average salaries here, the region suffers an imbalance between available skills and the personnel needs of growing enterprises. Many out-of-work trades people don't fit into today's technology-intensive factories.

Until recently, there hasn't been effective communication between skilled and eager job seekers and managers of the shops, assembly plants and factories in need of workers.

MAGNET, which has offices and training facilities in Cleveland, responds to both issues. It provides a range of workshops and seminars aimed at refining the skills of managers and workers so they can achieve the standards of today's advanced manufacturing practices.

It also launched a Web site this year, jobmagnet.org, intended to pair metal benders, welders, machinists and assembly workers as well as office workers, accountants, marketing and IT specialists and managers with companies that need their skills.

MAGNET's data show it's catching on, with almost 5,000 job seekers and more than 400 registered employers offering jobs.

But in a recent interview, Crocker said the trades many workers learned a decade or more ago, even with the ensuing years of daily on-the-job practice, didn't prepare them for what factories need today.

"Jobs become obsolete. That's what happens. Workers who haven't taken advantage of seminars and training programs in advanced manufacturing but kept with the same, say, welding or machining skills they learned in the past might not find jobs today," she said.

Following a recent $30 million expansion and with annual sales that are growing toward $50 million, Wrayco is one company always looking to expand its 300-employee work force. But on a recent walk through his vast factory, Gibb said, "Just being an experienced welder or machinist or metal shaper isn't enough."

Like many other bosses, he wants employees skilled in or ready to tackle computer-assisted manufacturing, comfortable with changing technology and ready to operate in work cells, where each member masters a range of production tasks. "A lot of workers who have been in manufacturing for a while around here aren't so flexible."

At Great Lakes Towing, Rasmus, too, has great plans of expanding his shipyard, providing dry-dock repair services for marine craft all across the Great Lakes and churning out mid-size tugs to meet an exploding market. He, like Gibb, wants flexible workers and promises "a terrific salary, great benefits and real career opportunities."

In short, he wants more workers like Julius Stafford IV, a Garfield Heights resident who came to Great Lakes as a welding intern at age 17 in 1999. He now says he's committed to learning the boat-building industry.

Stafford's career started at Cleveland's Max S. Hayes High School, walking distance from where he now works. The school's career and technical program in welding helped him gain the skills to impress Rasmus eight years ago. Stafford did a stint in airport security, then returned to Great Lakes, where he has worked for five years.

"Working here is an education every day," he said, and his boss says Stafford is soaking it up like a sponge and looking to the future. The young man smiled and said he's even paying attention to the stock market. He has a 401(k) retirement account with a match from his employer.

Rasmus talks up the value of what he calls vocational education programs at every opportunity. After drawing employees from Hayes' welding and diesel mechanics programs for more than 10 years, he said, "My commitment to its educational value is really strong."

But the tug boat maker also has his concerns. David Volosin, the high school's principal, said both career programs Rasmus lauds have been without full-time teachers this school year, a situation he hopes he can repair soon with his own new hires.

"There are good jobs in the trades here," Rasmus said. "Graduates can make good money and build real security. It just takes the right kind of person and the right kind of training. Ohio needs a lot more of that."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: fbentayou@plaind.com, 216-999-4116