Nothing against fast food…. This introduces them to what a career looks like. It gives them choices.
Ridgeland High School students Jacob Rogers, Draven Chapman and Xavier Meyer look at equipment models at Astec Inc., Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016 during a job fair.By the numbers
600,000 Number of unfilled manufacturing job openings in the U.S.74 Percent of manufacturing survey respondents saying that workforce shortages or skills deficiencies in production significantly impact plans to expand operations or improve productivity.28 Percent of employees at airplane-maker Boeing Corp. who are older than 55 and eligible for retirement.Source: “The Future of the Manufacturing Workforce” by Manpower
Ridgeland High School senior Blaine Sharp was checking out the Astec Inc. job fair and expressed interest in working as a welder for the Chattanooga asphalt plant equipment maker.
“They have plans for you to build up a career,” he said about Astec, adding that welders “make good money.”
About 120 Ridgeland students last week took part in the job fair to learn about potential careers in manufacturing as the company seeks to hire workers for posts becoming increasingly hard to fill.