Manufacturing has been one of the hardest hit areas, not only during the recession, but also in the past few decades as jobs have either been replaced by technology or shipped overseas.
But for economic development officials in Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates, they don’t see manufacturing as a fading element of the past, but an increasingly bright spot in the future — at least locally.
Both towns have been cooperating for the past three years to attract and keep high-tech manufacturing companies that are concentrated on the “Golden Corridor,” an area along Interstate 90 that stretches through the northwest suburbs.
Through grants from the Workforce Board of Northern Cook County and theIllinois workNet Center, the villages and local manufactures will be setting up young adults with internships that will hopefully cause more people to be interested in the field.
“We want them to know manufacturing is not dank and dangerous, it is smart and sustainable,” Gary Skoog, director of economic development for Hoffman Estates.
Skoog and his counterpart in Schaumburg, Matt Frank, said training more young people interested in manufacturing is not just good for the future employees and their future employers, but also for the local economy. They said building a base of qualified and interested young people will not only keep current companies in the area, but will also attract new firms.
The Manufacturing Careers Internship Program is part of that process, and has thus far yielded good results. The first group of 20 people aged 18 to 21 participated in the program when it was launched last fall. Eleven of those interns were offered jobs at one of the companies, while another six decided to take courses or training for future employment. The program is geared toward those who graduated high school, but are not attending college.
Frank said the aging workforce for local companies is a serious problem. With baby boomers set to retire in droves, there simply are not enough young adults to replace them, at least not yet.
“The aging population (of the manufacturing workforce) has been a concern for the past few years,” Frank said. “There is a lack of interest in manufacturing.”
He worries that a lack of local job candidates will push companies out of the area. On the other hand, he said, if the region starts getting a good reputation for having qualified and educated manufacturing candidates, that reputation will bring more companies in, further boosting the local economy.
Tom Henry, manager of the Education and Productivity Center at Schaumburg-based Sandvik Coromant, which produces tools for mining and drilling, said there are 70 million baby boomers who have recently retired or are on the verge of retirement, compared to only 40 million millennials — those born between 1980 and 1995 — which is creating a significant gap.
“Today, they can’t find qualified workers,” he said. “Sure, they can find workers all day, but they can’t find those qualified people who can run the high-tech equipment.”
But the internship is considered more of a short-term solution, as both Skoog and Frank said the lack of interest from teenagers is the root of the problem.
They said many do not see manufacturing as a viable option for future employment, scaring both them and their parents away from pursuing it as a career. They have reached out to local schools for field trips and programs to boost interest in the field, while local companies have worked with Harper College to develop new classes and programs.
The irony, Skoog said, is while the country is facing high unemployment, there are many local companies looking for new employees to replace retirees, but there’s no one around who can do the jobs.
For information on the internship or to apply, go to www.worknetncc.com.
