A recent study of 94 senior manufacturing executives, conducted by Advanced Technology Services, Inc. (ATS) and Nielsen Entertainment's Consumer Products Group, found that most respondents expected heavy losses.

The survey questioned them about the impending retirement (over the next five years) of 40% of skilled labor force and about two-thirds of respondents anticipate costs to reach, on average, $50 million.

And for 46% of the respondents with more than $1 billion in revenue, the anticipated costs are even heavier--over $100 million in the next five years.

(According to the IndustryWeek article that served as the source for this piece, the "five-year timeframe prediction is based on sources including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Association of Manufacturers and others.")

"The looming skilled worker shortage is an unwelcome threat to the nation's manufacturing base that needs to be addressed at multiple levels, from better educating the next generation of factory workers to improving the public's image of plant work," ATS President Jeffrey Owens tells IndustryWeek. "Our most modern and cutting edge plants can be more productive and profitable by deploying highly skilled employees that make their production machinery run better."

The discrete manufacturers that will be most affected include (in declining order)...

• Automotive manufacturers
• Ball and roller bearing makers
• Metal valve manufacturers
• Engine and transmission manufacturers

Source:

Skilled Labor Shortage Will Cost Manufacturers An Average $50 Million
IndustryWeek, June 13, 2005
www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=10383&SectionID=6