The answer to what, you might ask?

We all hope that our children will be happy, healthy, and successful in whatever career they choose.  But honestly, how many of us envision our kids working in manufacturing?

[Editor's note: I spent my first three years as a consultant to manufacturers of aluminum cans and lids (yes, they are made in separate plants), home building kits and coffee roasters. I learned invaluable lessons on the importance of business processes and using data to solve problems.]

We know that not all of the kids we teach are cut out for a four-year college, or are not ready for it at eighteen.  It usually has nothing to do with intellect.  Many would be much happier using their hands AND their brains.  For these students, racking up debt to attend the “ideal” four-year institution may not be the best option.  

Let’s look at some facts:

• The cost of college education has increased by 260% since 1980 (versus 120% for the CPI)[1]
• over 12% of student loans are 90+ days delinquent [2]
• those that don’t complete programs have default rates between 35 and 40% by the age of 30 [2]
• fewer than 30% of students complete 2 year degrees within 3 years [3]
• fewer than 40% of students complete 4 year degrees within 6 years [3]
• manufacturing jobs have been increasing steadily since 2001 [4]
• there are currently over 400,000 open manufacturing positions [5]

Manufacturing jobs today are not what they used to be.  Most manufacturing jobs today require some type of post-secondary education.  You are more likely to work in front of a computer than on an assembly line. Most of those openings are for highly skilled people with math and computer competency, and manufacturers are having great difficulty finding qualified people to fill them.  This WSJ article, To Recruit Workers, Manufacturers Go to Parents’ Nights, describes how some manufacturers are trying to solve that problem.

Some of these manufacturers are now marketing these careers to parents.  Many manufacturers will pay for the post-secondary education required to do the job, either before full-time employment, or while employing the student part-time, thereby defraying living expenses until the student is employed full-time.  These jobs come with good wages, good benefits, tuition assistance for further education, and for many, a promising and rewarding career with NO STUDENT DEBT!!!

Steering certain students towards manufacturing could be the “answer” for all involved.  The students may find a rewarding career that fits their strengths, their parents won’t need to worry about financing a post-secondary education, and manufacturers can fill some of those open positions with qualified talent.  The bonus? These employees will be ready to program the robots that take over those highly educated professionals’ jobs (see NYT article from 12/15-17 reading list)!

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Editor's note: If you want to read up on the future of work, I read the Rise of Robots over break which shows the frightening pace at which companies are automating their workflows. 

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NGPF Careers Unit has several Activities, Data Crunches and Projects related to career selection, including Create a Career Roadmap.

Footnotes

1 Business Insider based on BLS and Department of Education data

2 New York Fed Quarterly Report of Household Debt and Credit, and Liberty Street Economics

3 National Center for Education Statistics

4 BLS data

5 BLS data

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