Good jobs with no takers

Unless you’re a policy wonk, phrases like “workforce development” fall into the category of subjects you know are important but kind of dull.

But Carl Wicklund, the Hebron plant manager for Wagstaff Inc., brought the subject home recently with a scary story that summarizes why we’ve got big problems in this country. Imagine having $20-per-hour jobs in this down economy that you can't fill.

I heard Carl at a recent meeting of the Education Alliance Steering Committee in Northern Kentucky, of which I’m a member. The schools have to do more, and they need more parental, business and political support, he maintained.

Wagstaff makes casting systems for the molten aluminum industry. I don’t claim to understand what all that entails, but it involves expensive equipment – they’re installing a $1.5 million machine now -- and good workers who know how to run the gear. While others bemoan the loss of good jobs overseas and the trade deficit, Wagstaff exports overseas and sells around the world. It can be done.

When I talked to Wicklund on Tuesday, he had three machinist jobs that paid about $20 an hour with benefits – a better wage than a lot of college graduates make. Beyond the standard drill of hiring, he’d expect applicants to have about two or three years experience in the trade or technical school experience. His search to fill all his machinist jobs has been going on for nearly 18 months. (At Wagstaff’s Web site, you even find a page that says “Wagstaff is always looking for skilled CNC machinists and welders.”)

A big issue at the Hebron plant is that the great majority of applicants can’t pass a simple math test – something the job requires. Wicklund also pointed out that the math skills he needs have changed from years ago. It’s not about computation, it’s about application. The computers do the calculations, but the machinists have to know how to interpret and apply the numbers to get the equipment back to norms.

Wicklund wants people who see this as a good career path, not just a job. He needs people who understand that education didn’t stop when the superintendent handed them a diploma in 12^th grade. “I don’t think anyone in my plant hasn’t been to school at least once every two years,” he said. “I can’t – they can’t – live like my parents did. It’s mind-boggling.”

Unfortunately, parents, educators and manufacturers seem to be figuring these things out faster in places such as Korea, India and China. Maybe they’re hungrier than we are. Here in Kentucky, we have too many parents worried more about the start of school interfering with the end of summer vacation. We have school funding that is such a mess that even if local taxpayers stepped up and did more, it would cut the inadequate amount the state provides.

Carl Wicklund sees the results. More people should be as worried as he is.