'No shortage of skilled workers' – What?

A recent report from Washington’s Economic Policy Institute think tank contradicts the commonly held belief that there is a dire shortage of skilled workers to enter job vacancies in manufacturing. In "Why Claims of Skills Shortages in Manufacturing Are Overblown," professor Paul Osterman and PhD candidate Andrew Weaver, both from the MIT Sloan School of Management, examine whether high unemployment in U.S. manufacturing is actually due to a shortage of skilled workers.

 

Fewer than 4 in 10 manufacturing firms require math skills beyond the high-school level, the researchers found, dismissing the claim that a lack of basic education is a major barrier to employment.

 

Their survey also revealed that nearly two-thirds of manufacturers had no job vacancies, and more than three-quarters of the respondents claimed they had no jobs unfilled for three months or more, skewering the perception that good jobs go begging.

 

So, then why do I hear people in manufacturing complain about how difficult it is to find qualified machinists? Is this really the case of a vocal minority of manufacturers getting the most attention? Have the researchers overlooked some fundamental requirements for manufacturing jobs simply by not asking the right questions? Maybe it’s not about having basic math skills, but employee candidates lacking a grasp of the CNC machining process, computer familiarity, or something else.