SME survey results reveal parental misconceptions of manufacturing careers

Dearborn, Mich.-based SME has released results from a national survey of parents on their views related to careers in manufacturing. The results show that parents do not necessarily have the most up-to-date information or perspective on manufacturing and the opportunities available.

"The landscape in advanced manufacturing has evolved," said Jeffrey Krause, CEO of SME. "A serious misconception is that manufacturing is dirty, dark, or dangerous and isn’t … an optimal career choice. The reality is far from that. Manufacturing today is an advanced, high-value industry that represents innovation and technology. The survey results demonstrate that we need to show that manufacturing careers can be exciting, stimulating, and very rewarding."

SME surveyed parents nationwide to assess their views on manufacturing as a career. Some findings are:

• More than 20 percent of parents surveyed view manufacturing as an outdated and/or dirty work environment.
• Half of all respondents do not see manufacturing as an exciting, challenging, or engaging profession.
• Nearly one-quarter of parents surveyed do not feel that manufacturing is a well-paying profession.

In actuality, many of today's manufacturing environments look more like clean rooms, with laboratory-like settings. Manufacturing offers career opportunities for every education level ranging from skilled trades that require a high school diploma or GED to engineers, designers, and programmers with bachelor's and master's degrees and researchers and scientists with PhDs.

Technological advancements are yielding well-paying careers: the average U.S. manufacturing worker makes $77,506, SME states.

An estimated 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will become available in the next 10 years, but without the right skilled workers for the jobs, an estimated 2 million of those jobs could go unfilled.