How the master-and-apprentice relationship builds a skilled workforce

The need for skilled labor in this country has put new emphasis on the STEM skills. Business leaders opine about the lack of good people, putting forth myriad “these kids today” complaints. “Kids today don’t know how to read a ruler, much less read any kind of blueprint!”

We also hear that people don’t pay attention to detail—say, forget to clamp a part correctly on a robot weld fixture; put the wrong kind of hardware in a sheet metal subassembly; and more. And worse, we hear that new people just don’t show up.

Most important, we hear that some companies are more than willing to teach the technical skills. The soft skills—the work ethic, the engagement, and the showing up for work part—that’s a different matter altogether.

Several stories that we’re preparing for an upcoming FABRICATOR shine a light not on the problems, but on what works. As it turns out, it just takes two people, one with a lot of experience and one without.

Call them whatever you want—master and apprentice, veteran and rookie—the relationship predates the industrial age. For some of the toughest jobs to fill, like bending and rolling technicians, it still seems to work extremely well. In effect, the relationship helps a company build a technically competent and engaged workforce.

But there’s a catch. The master and apprentice need to get along. They don’t need to be the best of friends, but on a professional level they must have respect for one another. They may rib each other to death. They may even play pranks. But over time they become an effective team.

The challenge, of course, is that fabricators don’t have enough veteran employees to mentor a rookie. And thanks to throughput demands, fabricators need new people to start producing good parts right away. New technology is helping them do just that, but as fabricators are telling me, the connection with experienced co-workers still needs to be there.

Without that connection, those rookies, after a little training and experience, are more likely to leave for 50 cents more an hour.