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How to attract a new generation of metal fabricators

Laser Precision promotes manufacturing to attract new talent

Welder Sean McCarley, left, reviews a job’s specifications with Welding Manager Chris McAteer.

Aging, and inevitable retirement, of industry’s skilled workforce has been an encroaching problem for several years. Technical advances and automation from OEMs have reduced the number of tradesmen needed to accomplish many tasks and the reintroduction of vocational programs in some high schools and community colleges is helping to a certain extent, but the reality remains that shop floors need an influx of qualified, trained young adults.

Currently not enough young people are choosing industry as a career path to meet current and future workforce needs. Part of the problem lies with a lack of information and understanding as to what is involved in modern manufacturing and the opportunities it offers.

About 18 months ago Jeff Adams, owner of Laser Precision in Libertyville, Ill., began investing heavily in finding and educating individuals to ensure that his company can continue providing quality metal fabrication for its customers.

“Our company realized that there was going to be a lot of heavy lifting to do to redefine manufacturing and metal fabrication as a viable career alternative for the generation entering the workforce. Young people and their parents need to know that the industry has evolved to where there is no resemblance to what manufacturing looked like just 20 years ago. Manufacturing has gotten an undeserved, negative reputation for many years,” he said.

“There has been a steady narrative proclaiming that a four-year college degree is required for a young person to amount to anything in this world, and while we wholeheartedly endorse and support education, college is not for everyone and doesn’t guarantee success for myriad reasons.

“One big reason is that when a lot of kids graduate, they are saddled with huge sums of student debt that puts them behind the eight ball when it comes to getting established in society. It’s taken a while but people are slowly starting to recognize that this vast amount of school indebtedness is a concern for society as well as the individuals themselves.”

Building Its Own Skilled Workforce

Laser Precision, with about 160 employees, is one of the small to midsized job shops dedicating resources to solve the workforce problem.

“Individual companies are getting more involved in the effort for a couple of reasons. One is that if we don’t have skilled, intelligent, reliable people in place to carry our mission forward, we won’t be able to satisfy our customers. The second is that without those people it becomes very difficulat to evolve the manufacturing discipline to support 21st century manufacturing in general,” Adams said.

Kimberly Wimer, the company’s human resources manager, spearheads the recruitment efforts. She uses several avenues of community outreach, many working with like-minded organizations, while continually seeking new opportunities to advance manufacturing in general and garner candidates for the organization.

“We have several lines in the water, but we need more because individuals in the skilled trades comprise an aging population. Without a proactive and engaged effort, we’re not going to attract the students we need as they come out of high school or the community college,” Wimer said.

Kimberly Wimer poses with Wyatt Balmes on Student Signing Day. Balmes was offered a position in the company’s welding department upon high school graduation because of his involvement with the welding program at Lake County Tech Campus.

“We need to hedge our bet on the numbers, open the search wider than other manufacturers, and create our own workforce. We do that by bringing in people who have no experience and training them from the ground up. Many of our skilled technicians and machine operators have been homegrown within our facility,” she added.

Working With Others

The Lake County Workforce Ecosystem, a local consortium comprising College of Lake County, Lake County Tech Campus, Workforce Development, and Lake County Partners, reached out to Laser Precision to become involved in efforts to bring employees to Lake County, Ill., businesses.

“Working with all these entities to track the workforce, encouraging continuing education for underskilled individuals, and going into local area high schools and the college to promote manufacturing are beginning to attract some attention,” Wimer said. “We’ve also done some work with the Illinois Department of Employment Security.”

Wimer described some of the outreach activities designed to draw young adults—as well as established individuals—to industry and Laser Precision:

• Internship program in conjunction with Lake County High Schools Tech Campus. Seniors attending welding classes at the Tech Campus have the opportunity to work at the company during their last semester and receive a job offer upon graduation. Four individuals from this relatively new program have become full-time employees thus far. “We thought that if we show students the workplace before they graduate, there is a greater chance of them continuing on in the manufacturing workforce and perhaps pursuing further industrial training, such as working towards certificates and associate degrees with a manufacturing focus.”

• On-site job fairs. The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) works with the company to coordinate job fairs at its facility. “IDES helps us advertise for our open positions and brings unemployed candidates and employed candidates looking for new opportunities to the fair. The candidates see the environment and learn about career opportunities.”

• Job shadows. Students from the Welding and Machine Tool Trade programs at the College of Lake County are invited to shadow an employee to experience a typical working day and determine their interest levels in manufacturing positions. “We work with the professors to bring students on-site so they can learn more about what we do. It’s an opportunity for us to pitch Laser Precision to the students who are looking to start their career and continue with their education.”

• Layoff events. Laser Precision has participated in a number of layoff events sponsored by Lake County Workforce Develop-ment. These events introduce potential em-ployees to employers who are actively hiring. “We have been able to assist a number of people who were experiencing a layoff by providing them with employment opportunities. This has been a successful method for attracting new talent.”

• Committee work with educational institutions. The company actively participates on advisory committees at the College of Lake County and the Lake County Tech Campus. Input from manufacturing companies in the county aids in developing industrial programs and class curriculum. “It is beneficial to us when potential employees who have participated in these classes come to us with formal education in the skills we need.”

• School presentations. Time is spent visiting local area high schools to talk with students, teachers, and parents about the industrial education programs available and encourage manufacturing as a career. “We talk about the opportunities available in the area.” And the company provides extensive in-house training along with reimbursement for further formal education when an employee is working toward a certificate or degree.

Trainee Sean Duffin, left, and press brake operator Ian Doorey inspect a part.

Even with all of these efforts, Wimer said, “we have to keep putting more lines in the water.”

Seeing Results

Dedication to increasing the number of young adults coming into the industrial job pipeline in the Lake County area earned Laser Precision the 2019 Lake County Workforce Ecosystem Talent Innovator Award. The organization was cited as being a thought leader in workforce development and playing an instrumental role in shaping strategies that will benefit Lake County and industry as a whole.

Former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and several other dignitaries recognized the company’s effort with visits during its 2018 Manufacturing Day open house, which brought stakeholders to the shop to discuss options and opportunities to improve the manufacturing ecosystem in Illinois.

Adams said that with efforts to reintroduce today’s manufacturing and rekindle interest in its career potential he fully expects that in two or three years high schools and community colleges—at least in Lake County—will have enough interested students to begin offering vocational programs again. But it’s not there yet.

“The onus is on us to provide the level of training that gets young people up to speed quickly. We have the responsibility to provide a clear picture of the opportunities that industry provides; the career alternatives available; and a thorough, safe training environment so these people succeed.

“A lot of our efforts have been successful because of our focus on raising awareness, providing clarity, and then offering flexibility and opportunity. Our investment is bringing us potential associates,” Adams said.

Dignitaries toured Laser Precision during its 2018 Manufacturing Day event. Visiting the metal fabricator were (left to right) Ed Youdell, president and CEO of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International; Dr. Lori Suddick, president of the College of Lake County; Jennifer Serino, director of Lake County Workforce Development; Jeffrey Adams, president of Laser Precision; Bruce Rauner, former governor of Illinois; Terry Weppler, mayor of Libertyville; Kevin Considine, president and CEO of Lake County Partners; and Daniel McConchie, state senator for the 26th district of Illinois.