Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Fascinating data. Manufacturing wages are up on a regional basis.
Although manufacturing wages on a nationwide basis are still rising slowly—and they lag behind the average increases for all private-sector workers—they are growing faster than overall wages in certain states. In Texas, wages for all types of production workers in manufacturing settings grew an average of 6.3% from a year earlier, compared with nationwide overall private-sector wage growth of 2.3%. Factory-wage growth was 4.4% in Washington State, 4% in Oregon and 3.1% in Indiana in that period.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,186,228 times
Reputation: 57821
For several years there have been articles (one sample below) about a shortage of skilled manufacturing workers, so that would naturally drive up salaries especially with some companies bring back work that has been outsourced as foreign labor and transportation costs go up. People are going to college in the hope of a 6 figure white collar job, and end up making minimum wage while they could have taken less expensive trade school classes and be making $20-25.
Wages are rising overseas and transport costs are going up, so wages of US workers will rise some but the cost of consumer goods will increase. Is it good or bad? I don't know.
I've been getting tons of job offers from temp agencies. For precision machining or tool and die, they have no problem offering you +$25/hr on the phone. Not too long after, they like to throw out the ol "what's the least you would work for??"
Many good machinists, fabricators, etc left these occupations over the years due to low pay, lack of respect on the job, and general BS. The issues haven't gone away. Even still though, if you're top notch, and put in the time mastering a trade, there are plenty of good opportunities out there. I enjoy my work. Getting paid to do something engaging and hands on is something to be thankful for. Most jobs are dull, dead end, and boring. As for the BS, I take nothing home besides the paycheck.
Many manufacturers are coming to realize that they are desperately short on top tier tradesmen. These are the few who the company piles the responsibility on, in exchange for a few bucks more an hour. Well, those guys are in short supply, since so few shops have chosen to train them over the years. If I had to guess, these are the types seeing most of the gain. The labor market has been squeezed to the point that a shortage exists in some parts of the country. Unskilled labor is lucky to find $11/hr in this area though. Many places advertise minimum wage assembly jobs, and people line up. Companies simply have no incentive to offer more money. Supply and demand...
I've been getting tons of job offers from temp agencies. For precision machining or tool and die, they have no problem offering you +$25/hr on the phone. Not too long after, they like to throw out the ol "what's the least you would work for??"
Many good machinists, fabricators, etc left these occupations over the years due to low pay, lack of respect on the job, and general BS. The issues haven't gone away. Even still though, if you're top notch, and put in the time mastering a trade, there are plenty of good opportunities out there. I enjoy my work. Getting paid to do something engaging and hands on is something to be thankful for. Most jobs are dull, dead end, and boring. As for the BS, I take nothing home besides the paycheck.
Many manufacturers are coming to realize that they are desperately short on top tier tradesmen. These are the few who the company piles the responsibility on, in exchange for a few bucks more an hour. Well, those guys are in short supply, since so few shops have chosen to train them over the years. If I had to guess, these are the types seeing most of the gain. The labor market has been squeezed to the point that a shortage exists in some parts of the country. Unskilled labor is lucky to find $11/hr in this area though. Many places advertise minimum wage assembly jobs, and people line up. Companies simply have no incentive to offer more money. Supply and demand...
Fed survey out today basically confirming this. Manufacturing activity is increasing everywhere except for New York and Boston. Many areas are having a hard time finding skilled workers especially in construction and manufacturing. Chicago and Dallas were actually noted as having had construction projects delayed due to a lack of workers. All this adding to the pressure for wage hikes in these sectors.
The real question (issue) is how many new job slots are (not) opening.
This is an issue because people will hear "ooh shiney" and then sign up for a training program,
run up some debt or milk Uncle for the dosh and only THEN learn that the factory doesn't really
need anyone and/or the influx of extra warm bodies allows them to justify REDUCING rates.
Too many people available for the jobs that actually need doing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
