Find more essays from each of the panelists at this year’s Economic Forecast Breakfast at www.columbian.com/economicforecast
Jobs in manufacturing have historically been the key to providing unskilled American workers with stable, living-wage jobs. These unskilled jobs, however, no longer exist. Automation, higher quality standards and other factors in the shifting economy have resulted in fewer opportunities for unskilled workers.
Southwest Washington is part of the Silicon Forest. With clean water and lower-cost electricity, it has been a hub for the high-tech manufacturing industry. These companies employ a wide variety of workers with various levels of education, from machine operators with high school diplomas to engineers with Ph.Ds. The existing manufacturing jobs require a skilled workforce.
Machine operators are not required to have a formal post-high school education, but they are not unskilled. They must have a strong grounding in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math. Depending on the position, a typical operator must be able to understand precision measurement techniques, basic chemistry and materials safety data sheets. They also must be able to understand basic statistics, and have the ability to interpret data in charts and tables. In addition, they must also have “soft skills,” including critical thinking, a good work ethic, general interpersonal communication skills, and the ability to work in a functional team, solve problems and handle conflict in a professional manner.
