PlastiCert

Injection molding solutions

Untitled MadeInMinnesotaLogoBlueFade www-award-logo-16-win
(507) 523-2300
ISO 9001:2015 Certified
UL Registered
Do you have a problem part/design? Send us what you have, we will take a look and offer up some advice.
(507) 523-2300
ISO 9001:2015 Certified
UL Registered
Do you have a problem part/design? Send us what you have, we will take a look and offer up some advice.

Follow us on LinkedIn!Follow us on Twitter!

  • Who WE ARE
    • About PlastiCert
    • PlastiCert Mission Statement
    • Key Company Individuals
    • News
    • Community Involvement
  • What WE DO
    • Overview of Capabilities
    • Small and Short Run Production
    • FAQ
    • Begin a Discussion
  • Who WE WORK with
    • Testimonials
  • BLOG
  • CAREERS
  • CONTACT US

June 9, 2022 By craig

Where will the workers come from?

(A re-post from the past, as it is STILL prevalent)

Where will the workers come from?

The unemployment rate in my county was 2.2% (It is now 1.2%). The unemployment rate in all the counties around me was 2.0% or less (Now 1.5% or less). (1) The population of my county is projected to drop by 0.4% by 2040, the employable part of the population will drop by 0.3% in that same time frame. (2)

The story isn’t unique to Minnesota, I read articles originating from all over the United State saying the same thing; we are experiencing a coworker shortage.

Every business owner and general manager I talk to says the same thing. They cannot find new coworkers, at ANY level on the skills chain. Granted, finding an experienced engineer, IT person, materials specialist, or production scheduler that is capable and fits your culture has always been a process. Now finding even entry level, never been in manufacturing, not familiar with the commodity whether it be plastics, electronics, metals or packaging, is getting even more difficult than the any other search. What’s left is for employers to lure coworkers from each other, not solving the problem, just making it a complex game of musical chairs.

I applaud the efforts to start working with the less accessed fringes of society like formerly or soon to be released incarcerated. It should have happened, long ago, but necessity is the mother of invention. This may help to inject a few bodies into the system.

We are now, FINALLY, telling kids that it is ok to go to trade school, 2 year vocational programs or even straight to work and learn on-the-job! That still doesn’t help fill the gap as stated earlier, my population numbers are still diminishing.

Never-the-less, what we STILL need (almost 4 years later) is governmental leadership to tackle the three main components of barriers to adding coworkers to any region.

  • A demand for affordable and diversified housing
  • Facilitating workforce access for potential coworkers, primarily:
    • Better access to child care
    • Higher wages (Yes, an employer issue, one PlastiCert has been correcting for years. Our wages have increased at nearly twice the regional rate.)(While first to start raising wages because it was the right thing to do, we are in competition with other companies that finally increased wages because they had to).
  • Increasing demand for a regional transportation systems
  • Growing the overall labor supply through new immigration

All of these have to be assessed and improved in parallel with the others. Fixing any one or two of them without the others does marginal help.

Disregarding the ongoing threat of trade wars, without coworkers this country’s economy WILL come crashing down.

 

 

(1) MN DEED County Unemployment Rates September 2018 (Updates based on April 2022)

(2) Southeastern MN League of Municipalities – Southeast Minnesota Regional Economic Study, Oct 2018

PT 2015 WCP Logo

Click to Start Discussion

Join Our Email List

For Email Newsletters you can trust.
 

Company News

PlastiCert: The Ins and Outs of Injection Molding

PlastiCert is a Lewiston-based small business with approximately 30 employees. It was also recently named one of the top … [Read More...]

PlastiCert announces promotions and reorganization

Lewiston, MN March 30, 2022 - PlastiCert, a veteran of innovative and quality composite injection molding celebrating 41 … [Read More...]

[MORE NEWS]

Blog

Everyone loves a parade!

Another Lewiston Heartland Days has passed and PlastiCert did it up bigger than usual. This year we celebrated our doing … [Read More...]

Open the Doors

The one thing manufacturing needs to do is raise their profile. Inviting the public into our facilities is the best … [Read More...]

[MORE POSTS]

  • What we do
  • Who we are
  • Who we work with
  • Begin a Discussion
  • Careers at PlastiCert
  • Privacy Policy

(507) 523-2300

PlastiCert Inc.
300 Wilson Street N.
P.O. Box 670
Lewiston, MN 55952

© 2022 PlastiCert Inc. All rights reserved. | Employees

Website design & hosting by Vision Design Group, Inc.