Millions of Manufacturing Jobs Could Go Unfilled
An instructor demonstrates how to use an ohmmeter, which measures electrical resistance.
Photographer: Josh Anderson for Bloomberg Businessweek
James Michael Logsdon, a Louisville auto mechanic, hadn’t been in a classroom in 40 years when his company went out of business in 2015, but he was keen to learn something new. He enrolled in a free program for blue-collar workers at KentuckianaWorks, a regional job-services group that offers education and training courses and connects students with prospective employers. In five weeks, he got certified production technician (CPT) training and was hired weeks later at Atlas Copco AB, the Swedish tool-and-equipment maker.
“I had a long interview, but it wasn’t until I talked about the courses I’d taken and showed my grades that they wanted me,” says Logsdon, 59, who now repairs tools used by automakers and equipment manufacturers.