Insight on Manufacturing

March 2013

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INSIGHT FROM ... Mike Kawleski, public affairs manager, Georgia-Pacific, Green Bay Embracing experience Initiative teams match retirees with new employees "… Experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer." — Randy Pausch, "The Last Lecture" For the most part, Northeast Wisconsin manufacturers are planning for a favorable 2013, according to the recent Manufacturing Vitality Index Survey by the NEW Manufacturing Alliance. A majority of those companies responding reported that financial health, sales growth, capital investments and additional hiring will remain strong throughout the year. The biggest continuing challenge is finding new workers with the technical skills, training and experience needed for today's modern manufacturing setting. Nearly half of the companies expect difficulty finding local talent this year, up from 29 percent who reported this as a challenge in the 2011 survey. An aging workforce compounds the problem, and it's a simple case of "the numbers just don't add up" for employers: » mployees old enough to retire now outnumber teen E workers for the first time in 60 years. » n the U.S., 10,000 workers reach age 65 daily. I » y 2020, more than 36 percent of the country's population B will be older than 65. » n the 20 years from 2000 through 2020, the population I over age 65 will have increased by 54 percent. Those nearing retirement, ages 55 to 64 years old, will have grown by 73 percent. By contrast, the numbers of "younger workers," ages 15 to 54, will only rise 5 percent. As baby boomers retire, they not only shrink the pool of available workers, but also take decades of knowledge and expertise with them. One local company estimates it lost "400 years" of experience last year due to retirements. Even when companies find qualified job candidates, it's still necessary to train them, and the "brain drain" caused by retirees walking out the door means fewer seasoned co-workers are available to mentor new employees and impart the wisdom gained from lengthy careers. This affects companies' participation in youth apprenticeship programs – if companies can't afford taking someone off the floor 24 | / insight on manufacturing • March 2013 to work with a new full-time hire, it's unlikely there are resources for temporary student workers. The Retired Worker Initiative (RWI), created by the Development Task Force of the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance, may be a partial solution to this quandary. It's based on the success companies such as EMT International, Ariens and Lindquist Machine have had in bringing back retirees part-time to be trainers on a shortterm basis. The Retired Worker Initiative of the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance is a proposed pilot project in partnership with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. If approved, the WEDC will pay a company about 25 percent of the costs of bringing back a former employee who has retired in order to mentor new hires, incumbent workers who are promoted or youth apprenticeship students. The project would roll out in July. The Alliance has proposed RWI as a pilot project in partnership with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC). If the pilot is approved, WEDC will pay a company approximately 25 percent of the overall costs of bringing back a former employee who has retired in order to mentor new hires, incumbent workers who are promoted or youth apprenticeship students. This includes w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g .c o m

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