Ron Scherer and Kimberly Chase write for the Christian Science Monitor: “Can retraining offset rush of jobs offshore? As more workers get displaced, everyone from Bush to colleges is pushing programs to hone new skills.”
Discusses role of community colleges, and refers to Workforce Alliance, a group describing itself as “a national coalition of local leaders advocating for federal policies that invest in the skills of America’s workers . . . .”
Also discusses “Integrated Systems Technology program that trains students for skilled manufacturing jobs.” This program’s largest area of concentration is manufacturing. “While unskilled labor is tending to move overseas to cut costs, skilled workers are still needed for automated production.”
This tied in nicely with an article by Jerri Stroud in Today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch business section: “Furnace manager feels the heat year round in her job”.
This story is part of an ongoing series of profiles entitled “At Work in St. Louis.” Today’s story describes a young woman just a few years out of a bachelor’s program in ceramic engineering who expected to be working in research or product development, but instead wound up as a ‘batch and furnace manager” for a 24-7 plant producing beer bottles for that famous St. Louis brewery.
The plant, just south of St. Louis, is owned by the container division of a French conglomerate, Saint-Gobain Group
Here’s a nifty little schematic of the operation, and here’s their description of the type of employment opportunities in this industry.
Interesting sort of globalization in reverse here: here’s a French company owning a plant that does work that really makes sense to do here in Missouri, just down I-55 from the brewery, minimizing shipping costs to virtually nothing.
And labor costs are not a major issue, as it’s so highly automated. Of course, I suspect this means the plant doesn’t have that many employees.
But this is a fine example of the type of manufacturing work we have a good shot at keeping (and growing?) in the US, and one requiring a high level of training and dedication.
Sphere: Related ContentIf you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing.
Subscribe by RSS
Subscribe by Email
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment