Bringing Manufacturing JOBS Back to the US

 

Have you heard all the whoopla about bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US?  The real economist say it can’t happen; and I agree with them. Idealistically it sounds great, but fiscally I don’t see how it could ever work (especially in California).    This California EDD Labor Market Report supports my thinking. It says:

“manufacturing sector is expected to lose 40,100 jobs through the projection period. This sector has a long history of declining employment due to increases in automation and outsourcing…”

 

Manufacturing may surge in the US; but manufacturing JOBS will not.

Have you seen what became of the old NUMMI plant which once was the biggest employer in Alameda county?  It’s now the TESLA plant. It still manufactures automobiles, but it employs minimal human resources.  TESLA employs robotics to do the grunt work of manufacturing vehicles. If your dream job involves building cars, you may want to spend a little more time gaining higher-level math, problem-solving, and computer skills (like coding, computer aided drafting and so forth). Take a look at this video:

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Compare what you just saw at TESLA to this short overview of the old NUMMI plant.  There was quite a bit of automation then; but you’ll also see a lot of human talent involved in getting the job done.

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This major shift in automobile assembly and the unemployment of more than 5000 people only took 20 years to happen. I remember when the NUMMI plant opened, and I was on the front line helping calm the most frantic dislocated workers through the emotional experience of job loss, financial calamity, and workforce skills deficiency. If your dream job involves building cars, you may want to spend a little more time gaining higher-level math, problem-solving, and computer skills (like coding, computer aided drafting and so forth).

Manufacturing isn’t the only industry that will see many of it’s jobs replaced by robotics. Anywhere it can happen, it will happen.  Consider the self-driving vehicles being tested right now. The long-term plan, as I understand it, is for the transportation industry to replace truck drivers with self-driving big rigs.

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The point of my writing this article is this: Right now workforce systems will promote manufacturing careers, and that’s good for now; but for those who choose manufacturing as a career pathway, always remember the future plan is  for  robotics to replace humans. Use this knowledge to your advantage and as a constant motivation not to get comfortable doing the same thing over and over. If you can do it over and over, so can a robot. Diversify your skill-set and invest time in learning innovative, higher-level thinking. See yourself several steps ahead of where the industry is today.

 

No matter what industry you currently work in, take out a little time to see how things are changing in the manufacturing industry.

 

National Manufacturing Day is October 2, 2015. So far there are over 600 events nationwide planned for this day.  Go to www.mfgday.com to find an event near you.

 

Career Management Tip #2 for LinkedIn

Hi Friends!

LinkedIn is one of the greatest online career management tools to date. Career management is the lifelong, self-monitored process of career planning that involves choosing and setting personal goals, and formulating strategies for achieving them.  Many times we’re so consumed with our current work – either for a current employer, freelance contract, or entrepreneurial venture – that we forget to manage our own career. Remember, you’re career is YOURS to take care of.  Keep a handle on it even when it seems like it does not need your attention.

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Here’s three super quick career management tips for LinkedIn:

Record your accomplishments and projects as soon as they happen.  When you successfully complete a special project at work, go right to the PROJECTS section on your profile and tell us about it!

Keep your profile fresh and up-to-date – Make sure your professional profile photo is current and fresh, and that it looks like YOU.  Make sure the information on your profile is current. If you no longer work for a particular employer or if you’ve graduated from school, update your information.  When a recruiter looks you up on LinkedIn (as they do about 90% of the time before calling you for an interview) you want them to see accurate information from someone who cares about their professional reputation.

If you need a less revealing platform, check out www.poachable.co  (“.CO” not “.com”) – Do you want potential employers and recruiters to know that you’re passively open to new opportunities, but don’t want your current LinkedIn contacts to know? Poachable provides an anonymous platform you might find helpful.

As I always say: “It’s YOUR career – you take care of it!” Reach out if you need help!

Success to You,

Michelle Walker-Wade

 

 

 

 

Career Management Tip

Make Short and Long-term Goals for your Career and Financial success

Make short and long-term goals for your career and financial success.

Plan for your work-based success, current and future financial provision, professional growth, and social influence. Set goals, plan for them, prepare to do well, and start taking steps needed to reach them!

Goals don’t come to you, YOU go to them!

There are so many free and low-cost options available online to help you obtain the knowledge and develop the skills needed to obtain your career and financial goals.  Resources like:

• http://www.lynda.com —- Low Cost
• http://www.skillshare.com —- Low Cost
• http://www.coursera.com —- FREE

• and more!

If your current job will not provide for your personal and career goals, you must make a conscious decision to sacrifice certain comforts now so you can live well in the near future. So get ready to sacrifice.

In creating your goals, make sure they are are SMART!

A SMART Goal must be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Agreed, achievable, applicable
• Realistic & relevant

This YouTube video explains it well.

I want to see you succeed! I want to see you climb up from where you are now, and excel to an awesome place in your future.  Are you ready and willing?

Michelle Walker-Wade

Employment and Unemployment in the 209

Did you know that in San Joaquin County…

• The county unemployment rate is 15.9% while Alameda County is 9.3%?

And..

The top 3 fastest growing jobs are:

• Personal and Home Care Aides ($9.86/hour),
• Information Security Analysts, Web Developers, and Computer Network Architect – ($36.11/hour)
• And other personal care and Service Workers such as beauticians, barbers, disability care workers, and food service workers – (pay rate varies)

Looking at the unemployment rates and taking into account the dramatic difference between the rate of pay for the 3 top fastest growing jobs, you must notice that unless you’re interested in spending the time and money needed to gain very technical skills, the quickest route into the workforce appears to be some sort of personal care.  Personal care jobs are often viewed as “low-skill” jobs; and as you can see from the rate of pay that these type jobs generally are low paying jobs as well.  While you many not want to make a life-long career in such low-skill/low-pay jobs, I encourage you to go ahead and enter (or re-enter) the workforce through the door that is open.

Getting in the workforce will help you:

1. Develop even more skills (particularly soft-skills which employers say are 87.5% of almost every job).
2. Build your confidence level and your general feelings of usefulness.
3. Send a message to your family and friends that you are still workforce-minded, thereby minimizing the amount of time available to do random activities that really are  low priority time-busters.

I have found, particularly in the 209 area code, the conditions of the job market have many people so despondent they’ve found solace in doing “random activities“.  What I say to you is this:  make those activities count for something.  Use them to give you an edge into a new world or work. Unemployment benefits will not last forever. Just take a look at South Carolina’s new unemployment rules coming in 2012.  Under these  new rules, after a month of collecting benefits, the unemployed must now accept any offer for a job that pays at least 90 percent of what they used to earn. After 5 months, workers must accept a job that pays minimum wage, or $7.25 an hour. South Carolina’s unemployment rate has hovered around 9% for a few years (like California).

It won’t be long before other states plagued with high unemployment rates (like California) may look at similar alternatives.  I can take a hint; can you?

Survey: U.S. Workers Feeling Overwrought and Unproductive – Latest News – Workforce

Read the complete article by clicking the link, or just checkout my highlights below.

Article: Survey: U.S. Workers Feeling Overwrought and Unproductive – Latest News – Workforce. By Garry Kranz

HOT POINTS OF THE ARTICLE

Nearly 30 percent of employees readily concede being “too stressed to be effective” at work for at least five days in 2011.

Two-thirds of U.S. workers reported feeling fatigued and that they have no control over what happens in their workplace.

Due to current economic crisis, employees are being asked to do more work, work longer hours than they have in the past, and under more stress than they did in the past.

Such stress creates a domino effect:

• Increased conflicts with co-workers
• Increased difficulties balancing work and personal obligations
• Increased worries about job security
• Increased absenteeism,turnover, and productivity losses

So, what’s the good news?  24 percent say the increased stress does not have a negative impact on their job effectiveness.

MY OUTLOOK

Those of us who have a job in times like these should consider ourselves blessed (or lucky – however you see it).  I’d rather be on this side of the stress than to live with the instability of joblessness and unemployment benefits. I’m relieved that our government finally agreed to some sort of extension of unemployment benefits for the 13.9 million people in the country who are currently out of work, many of whom receive a combination of federal and state unemployment benefits. But don’t get too comfy with this extension; the devil is in the details.