Big shortages are expected in the toolmaking fields, Tool and Die, Mold Making, etc. The average age of toolmakers is about 60 years old in the industry right now. Michigan the state that employs the largest number of these workers employs about 16,000. That's down about a third from what it was a few years ago due to globalization and the recent recession. The country as a whole is down about 25%. The number of workers right now isn't expected to rise dramatically over the next 10 years or so, but the number of people retiring from the field will be immense. The exodus has started as worker take early retirement and buyout packages. This threatens the industry far more than competition from China or anywhere else. The number of apprentices graduating are about 250 a year in Michigan. Nowhere near the future demand that will be created. Parts of the country have already seen wages top $30/hour with the average being about $25 for a Tool and Die Maker for the rest of the country. Michigan has been able to keep theirs to about $20 due to it's lagging economy but that to is showing signs that it is finally turning the corner.
The industry suffers from alot of bad press due to the downturn in manufacturing and the false assumption that these jobs are old economy. The industry has changed tremendously in the last few years due to economic pressures. Gone are the days of dank and dirty sweat shops, replaced by high tech and advanced manufacturing run by computers and high speed machining.
Many small shops decided to quit training and ended their apprenticeship programs because of large corporate customers were raiding their programs of their 2nd, 3rd year and recent card carrying apprentices.
I have linked to an article in Moldmaking Technology that shows that a career in toolmaking to be a far better return on investment than a four year liberal Arts Degree.
The industry better start training these future employees now because it is not an overnight process. The typical apprenticeship takes 8 years of on the job training or 4 years with 2000 hrs of classroom instruction.
Education/Training - Forty to 200 Percent ROI on Training - 03/06
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Yes this is very true. I went to a local community college for machining technology. I graduated and went to work for Complex Tooling and Molding in Boulder Colorado. I had two years in the apprenticeship to become an excellent Mold Maker. I found the work to be challenging and rewarding it is a career that I focused and centered my life around I worked many hours. Not because I was forced to but because I enjoyed my job so very much. Sadly Complex Tooling and Molding shut down in 2001 and the Mold Making industry never really recovered here Colorado. I no longer work in manufacturing. To this day I still have dreams about my Mold Making apprenticeship and how happy I used to be at work. Its is sad AMERICA NO LONGER OFFERS A GOOD QUALITY OF LIFE AS IT ONCE DID.
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