Dear SafetyXChange Members,

If you're in the job market or thinking about getting into it, I suggest that you consider manufacturing. Jobs in this sector turn over at the rate of one-third each year. This leaves gaping talent gaps in organizations. We're talking good, skilled white collar jobs - like safety directors and engineers. "Modern manufacturing is not about assembly-line jobs with no future. It is an industry rife with entrepreneurs, innovation, technology and people interested in small companies or start-ups," says Phyllis Eisen, vice president, The Manufacturing Institute and executive director, Center for Workforce Success.

Let's talk more about the opportunities in this dynamic sector.

An Overview

The first thing you need to understand about manufacturing is that it's diverse. The essence of manufacturing is turning raw materials or other inputs into finished "things" or outputs. This can include everything from potato chips to computer chips. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the leading organization of manufacturing companies, has identified 230 different industries within its organization.

Manufacturing is also huge. There are literally millions of jobs in manufacturing - from senior engineers to marketing executives, from financial officers to speech writers. "It is as intricate as any other industry," notes Eisen. In fact, if the manufacturing industry were a country, it would be the world's eighth largest economy - surpassing Canada, Spain and the combined economies of South Korea and Mexico.

The outlook for manufacturing in the U.S. and Canada is not as dismal as some believe. True, the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) expects an overall one percent decline in employment in the manufacturing industry from 2002 to 2012; but it also expects a number of verticals to make gains.

Beneath the Numbers

"Even though top line growth is not increasing, there is a lot of hiring going on in manufacturing," according to Dan Meckstroth, chief economist at Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Inc.

Reporting that 30 percent of all manufacturing jobs turn over every year, Meckstroth notes new opportunities are being created at every level. "Don't overlook the industry because of the growth numbers; resources are constantly being reallocated," Meckstroth says.

Monthly job opening, hiring and separation rates for the manufacturing industry trail overall U.S. employment figures - but not by much. Preliminary figures from the DoL and the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that there were 3.5 million job openings on the last business day of February 2005, resulting in a job opening rate of 2.5 percent. The manufacturing industry had a 1.7 percent job opening rate for the same period - up from 1.4 percent in 2004.

"The topline number for job growth is not reflective of how many jobs are created within the manufacturing sector," notes Meckstroth.

The overall hires rate (the number of hires during the month divided by employment) was 3.5 percent in February 2005, compared to 2.3 percent for manufacturing - an increase from 2.1 percent in January 2005.

The total separations, or turnover, rate (the total number of separations during the month divided by employment) was 3.1 percent in February, while manufacturing's rate was 2.4 percent.

"Head count totals may not change much but people retire, quit, transition and separate for many different reasons. There is lots of movement and churn, as demand shifts occur within the industry," says Meckstroth. "More than half of separations quit, while about 40 percent are laid off."

Where the Manufacturing Jobs Are

While apparel manufacturing is expected to bear the highest employment losses, Eisen says that high-tech materials such as fire-resistant or road-worthy materials are areas of expected growth. "More clothes are made in laboratories than the factory floor," she notes.

"Industries that have high R&D, innovation and patent activity are likely to have the most growth," says Meckstroth. One notable example is the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing vertical and its effort to develop new products for an aging population. "Pharma/medicine is an industry that is growing, because it is one of the few sectors where you can raise prices consistently. It is one of the few items where people are willing to pay more."

Meckstroth identified a number of other manufacturing sectors where consumer demand is likely to generate employment opportunities:

• Defense: As homeland security awareness and needs increase, more money will be spent.
• Electronics: This constantly evolving sector requires a high proportion of engineers and other highly technical workers, as well as extremely knowledgeable sales and marketing professionals, according to the DoL.
• Communications: This high-growth sector collapsed during the dot-com bust but is making a comeback. Anything that connects to the Internet (routers, servers) will be hot. Mobile phone manufacturing is not expected to undergo growth.
• Automotive: Companies that serve the Japanese transplants are doing all right, but those involved with the "Big 3" (General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler) shouldn't expect to fare well. There is growth in R&D and technology.

Furthermore, a nearly 4 percent surge in executive employment is expected in the food manufacturing sector over the next 10 years driven by demands for manufactured food products by a growing and diverse population.

Conclusion - Be Prepared to Think Small

Manufacturing is the backbone of the safety profession and will continue to grow in the years ahead. That's good news for safety professionals. But here's some advice. Even though it summons up images of huge plants, billion dollars in assets and corporate hierarchy, manufacturing isn't just about big. When evaluating the opportunities in manufacturing, remember to consider the smaller companies. Even if you come from a large company, the major hiring in manufacturing is in small companies. Look beyond the big companies that are slimming down.

Wishing you career success and a happy Martin Luther King Day,

Lauryn Franzoni
www.ExecuNet.com

MEMBER REPLY

A Glass Ceiling for Men

I have a comment on last week's article about the glass ceiling but do not wish to get blasted with e-mails. So if you post it I would prefer it to be anonymous.

I understand that the numbers suggest the existence of a glass ceiling thwarting the progress of women managers. But if you look at the bigger picture you will find that there are a lot of men who make considerably less than others who do the same job. Yes there may be some sexual bias out there, but I believe there is a lot more sexual bias in the information that is thrown out there to make people feel sorry for women and want to GIVE them something that they have not earned.

I'm tired of hearing how a woman can do anything a man can do but then demand special treatment or exceptions because they are a woman. I apologize if these remarks offend anyone but I find it offensive when a woman demands the same rights and privileges as a man but isn't willing to meet the same standard or accept the same challenges.

Don't get me wrong, I admire a woman who can step up and do the same job as a man. And I think a lot of them can. A big reason women tend not to earn as much as men isn't their abilities or the fact that they're a woman, but their failure to negotiate effectively. I am a man but I have been on the bottom all my life because I take the offer and don't push the issues like a lot of my peers do. Thus I tend not to get the same pay, raises and promotions as they do. Not because I don't deserve them but because I don't demand them.

Anonymous

Editor's Note: Please do not castigate us for publishing this admittedly controversial view without publishing the writer's name or company. The identity of the person who wrote this is not important. The substance of his view is. And, while we at SafetyXChange don't necessarily agree with it, it's a view we suspect is harbored by others in the safety profession. To the extent that the note provokes response and discussion, it will have served to advance a vital mission of SafetyXChange.

Glenn Demby
Editor-in-Chief

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Robert Goddard: Sometimes it does take a rocket scientist.

January 13, 1920

After World War I, the American scientist Robert Goddard published a paper demonstrating that rockets propelled by strong liquid fuels were capable of reaching high altitudes and escaping the Earth's gravity. This prompted the following editorial rebuke from The New York Times, published exactly 86 years from this date:

"To claim [that a rocket is capable of reaching the moon] is to deny a fundamental law of dynamics. . .

"That Professor Goddard with his 'chair' in Clark College and the countenancing of the Smithsonian Institution, does not know the relation of action and reaction, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react - to say that would be absurd. Of course, he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."

On July 17, 1969, while the crew of Apollo was on its way to the moon, the Times issued this self-effacing "correction":

"Further investigation and experimentation have confirmed the findings of Isaac Newton in the 17^th century and it is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum as well as in an atmosphere. The Times regrets the error."

To all of you SafetyXChange members, let this little episode serve as a Martin Luther King Day moral: If you have a dream, don't fear to follow it.

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