Manufacturers Desperate For Younger Workers
There are pamphlets and posters and Power Point presentations explaining that the perception of manufacturing as greasy, backbreaking work no longer holds true.
But for local aerospace companies, all the marketing hasn’t been enough. The average age of their workforce is still over 50, and young people continue to view their facilities as a second-rate place to land a job.
So a rapidly expanding group of companies has begun sweetening the bait by offering one-year scholarships to Asnuntuck Community College for certificates in manufacturing and technology — and the chance to land well-paying jobs producing sophisticated jet engine components.
This school year, MTU Aero Engines, a German company with North American headquarters in Newington, gave out two such scholarships, worth $4,000 in tuition plus money for books and tools.
Next year, nine companies plan to give out 28 scholarships, a number that could rise as the school year approaches. Training, designed by the companies and sometimes taking place in their own facilities, includes skills like computer-aided design (CAD), blueprint reading, inspections and various machine usage.
“It’s very, very difficult to find skilled people in the market. And it doesn’t seem like the newest generation of kids is excited by these jobs, which is upsetting because they pay so well,” said Alain Berube, president and CEO of MTU Aero N.A.
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