Think the manufacturing job market doesn’t look so hot? Think again.

The past several months have painted a very bleak picture as it relates to manufacturing jobs. Lean practices, outsourcing and offshoring trends have put a major squeeze on job availability. And while these same trends will continue to pummel the manufacturing sector until the next major sea change occurs, take solace in the fact that the remainder of manufacturing gigs, which happen to be in very high demand, require higher skills and offer competitive pay.

As a preface to tomorrow’s IMT newsletter addressing the workforce and the workplace, here we offer a quick glimpse into nationwide industry employment.

A recent L.A. Times article captures the emerging high-demand/higher-pay trend by featuring 21 year old Daniel McGee, who quickly changed his career strategy once he figured out there was a void to be filled in an industry that he loved. Take the following excerpt, for instance:

Now, after graduating from a private, Minneapolis-area high school, he is working as a paid apprentice at a local metal parts manufacturing firm, which also helped pay for his two-year technical training program at a community college. “I find more value in on-the-job experience along with technical education experience” than in a four-year degree, McGee said. “I see a lot of people coming out of school with just the book knowledge and finding it hard to find a job.”

In addition to tuition and a $14-an-hour apprenticeship, the company is providing McGee with health insurance, a 401(k) and, once his training is complete, a salary of $58,240 a year. The L.A. Times piece also relates that some manufacturers are often so desperate for workers who can program, run or repair the computers and robots that now dominate the factory floor that they are offering recruitment bonuses, relocation packages and other incentives more common to white-collar jobs. About 90 percent of manufacturers say they are having trouble filling skilled jobs such as machinists and technicians, according to a survey released in December by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

And from PR Newswire comes word that Nebraska is actually bucking the outsourcing trend as its manufacturing job capacity rose nearly 2 percent over the past 12 months according to the 2007 Nebraska Manufacturers Register.

“Many of Nebraska’s leading sectors such as the food and agricultural industries are benefiting from the demand for exports from America’s heartland,” said Tom Dubin, President of MNI, “While many other states are still losing manufacturing jobs, Nebraska has defied the trend by maintaining a grip on industries that can’t be easily outsourced.”

Omaha remains Nebraska’s largest industrial city with 780 companies and 43,782 jobs listed in the 2007 Register. Lincoln accounts for 355 companies and 17,322 jobs while Grand Island represents 112 plants and 7,748 jobs. Because Nebraska is home to some of the largest meat processors in the world — an industry that relies heavily on automation — my guess is that high-paying jobs such as those described in the L.A. Times piece are also abundant.

And according to Michigan-based Macomb Daily, the county of Macomb should stick to what it does best: advanced manufacturing and advanced automotive production, according to a county-hired consultant. The county has lost jobs every year since 2000 and, in that 6-year timeframe, has seen a decrease of more than 26,000 manufacturing jobs. The Macomb unemployment rate in June was 6.7 percent. So the county hired Clarkston-based Intellitrends, who reported that efforts to bring new jobs to Macomb should focus on its core capabilities.

“I think they’re hitting a home run here,” said Roy Rose, co-chairman of Focus Macomb and president of a local engineering firm. “We have a good (economic) base here but we just haven’t marketed ourselves well. We have to sell the resources we have.”

Be sure to check out tomorrow’s pre-Labor Day IMT issue on labor and the workplace.