American factories could prosper if they find enough skilled workers
A widening skills gap means that over half of new manufacturing jobs in the decade to 2025 may go unfilled
“WE ARE always short ten to 20 people,” says Jack Marshall, the manager of PPG’s plant in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The company makes coatings, paint and speciality materials for customers such as Harley Davidson, a motorcycle manufacturer based in the state, with a palette ranging from black denim to candy orange. His factory employs 550 people, many of whom must work overtime. It is hard to fill jobs, he explains, because many still think factory work involves repetitive assembly-line tasks, as in the candy factory on the old TV sitcom “I Love Lucy”.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Making it in America”
Business October 14th 2017
- An assessment of the White House’s progress on deregulation
- American factories could prosper if they find enough skilled workers
- Why McKinsey is under attack in South Africa
- Kobe Steel admits falsifying data on 20,000 tonnes of metal
- An epic but inconsequential proxy vote at Procter & Gamble
- Crafty app developers are ripping off big-name brands
- American efforts to control Chinese firms abroad are dangerous
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