American employers struggling to find enough qualified
industrial workers are turning to Germany for a solution to plug
the U.S. skills gap: vocational training.
Two million U.S. manufacturing jobs will remain vacant over the
next decade due to a shortage of trained workers, according to an
analysis by the Manufacturing Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group
affiliated with the National Association of Manufacturers, and
professional-services firm Deloitte LLP.
While the Obama administration has invested millions of dollars
to promote skills-based training, it remains a tough sell in a
country where four-year university degrees are seen as the more
viable path to good-paying jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
said two-thirds of high school graduates who enrolled in college in
2015 opted for four-year degrees.
"You always hear apprenticeship is for losers, it's a dead-end
road," said Mario Kratsch, skills initiative director at the
Illinois Consortium for Advanced Technical Training, or ICATT, a
Chicago-based apprenticeship group that cooperates with the
German-American Chamber of Commerce and is trying to replicate the
German model in the U.S.
In Germany, roughly half of high-school graduates opt for
high-octane apprenticeships rather than college degrees. One draw:
almost certain employment.
German apprentices spend between three and four days a week
training at a company and between one and two days at a public
vocational school. The company pays wages and tuition. After three
years, apprentices take exams to receive nationally recognized
certificates in their occupation. Many continue working full time
at the company.
The Labor Department said 87% of apprentices in the U.S. are
employed after completing their training programs. Workers who
complete apprenticeships earn $50,000 annually on average, or
higher than the median U.S. annual wage of $44,720. A 2012 study
from Mathematica Policy Research found workers who complete
apprenticeships make as much as $300,000 more than
non-apprenticeship participants over the course of their
careers.
ICATT is looking to draw from the experience of German
multinationals including BMW AG, Siemens AG and Volkswagen AG,
which have already exported the vocational-training model to their
U.S. operations.
Siemens launched an apprenticeship program at its Charlotte
factory in 2011. The company partnered with a local community
college to offer vocational courses in combination with on-the-job
training on the shop floor. Apprentices learn skills required in
advanced manufacturing and graduate with an associate degree
combining disciplines of science, technology, engineering and
math.
Siemens said it recruited applicants from local high schools.
The company spends around $180,000 per student to pay for tuition,
books and wages during the four-year program. Ten of the 11
apprentices who completed the program still work at the company.
Siemens expanded it to Fort Payne, Ala., Sacramento and
Atlanta.
With ICATT's help, the German model is gaining traction among
small and medium U.S. businesses, like metals manufacturer Scot
Forge. The Illinois-based company worked with ICATT to institute an
apprenticeship program that uses rigorous German certification
standards to address its shortage of skilled workers.
Apprentices rotate between the shop floor at Scot Forge's metals
forging facilities and classrooms at local colleges. The company
pays their tuition and wages. Apprentices who successfully finish
the three-year program graduate with an associate degree,
debt-free, and a guaranteed job at the company for two years.
Zach Ford, who runs Scot Forge's apprenticeship program, said he
wishes he had established the system sooner.
"If all manufacturers don't open their eyes and see what's going
to happen here, it will hurt our industry," Mr. Ford said. "If you
don't have the people to do the work, it doesn't matter how much
work there is."
Mr. Ford said he hopes the German-style approach will help
reduce employee turnover, a priority as retirements rise.
"Somebody is supporting them and taking a chance on them," he
said of apprentices. "Naturally it would provide a little bit of
loyalty."
Scot Forge is one of 12 companies to join ICATT since it
launched last year. The number of applicants for apprenticeships
rose from 19 to 53 over one year, and enrollment doubled to a
still-modest 14 students.
The German-American Chamber of Commerce has similar partnerships
with apprenticeship groups in Michigan, Kentucky and Georgia.
Peter Riehle, CEO of the U.S. subsidiary of German engineering
firm Wittenstein AG, which is part of ICATT, said the German model
allows smaller U.S. companies to build a skilled workforce even if
they lack resources to develop training programs.
The U.S. departments of commerce, labor, and education and their
three German counterparts last year signed a joint declaration
aiming to introduce more companies to the German approach.
Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said the transplant effort
"may be one of the most valuable German imports to our country over
the long term."
Despite the promise of the German approach, transplanting it to
the U.S. won't be easy because it is linked to Germany's two-track
educational system. Students at around age 17 choose whether to
pursue a college degree or vocational degree and apprenticeship.
Educational institutions are separate, and few students switch
tracks.
Germany also enforces strict national standards across more than
300 occupations. The U.S. lacks uniform industry certification
standards for apprenticeships. An employee who completes an
apprenticeship at one company might not meet the qualifications for
another company in the same field.
"The infrastructure in Germany is something that you need a
long-term strategy to reach," said Robert Lerman, a fellow at the
Urban Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. "We are very far
from that."
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 27, 2016 01:15 ET (05:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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