This article from the Traverse City Record-Eagle says that the slumping auto industry has put many people out of work, and some are going back to school to upgrade their skills. To be successful in the manufacturing industry, plant operator training can help improve the expertise you need to qualify for highly-sought positions.
The large field south of M-72 appeared to be a typical work site as a bulldozer, backhoe, loader and other heavy equipment dug trenches and moved mounds of dirt.
But it wasn’t a new road or housing project under construction. This job site is all about rebuilding careers.
“A lot of these guys worked in factories for 20 years and then they closed the plants on them,” said Jim Peake. He runs an eight-man crew through a series of training exercises and classroom instruction on heavy equipment operation at AIS Construction Equipment in Williamsburg.
Michigan continues to shed thousands of manufacturing jobs each month, much of them tied to the state’s slumping automobile industry. The state lost approximately 42,800 manufacturing jobs in 2008, according to the Michigan Manufacturers Directory, after shedding more than 43,000 jobs in 2007.
Nearly half of those losses can be traced to the auto industry. Cuts rippled into northern Michigan at regional auto plants, including Tower Automotive in Traverse City and Dura Automotive in Mancelona.
One of those lost jobs belonged to Chuck Peters, 43, a Kalkaska resident who went to work at Dura soon after his high school graduation. He was laid off in September after 24 years at the plant, and signed up for Peake’s heavy equipment class in hopes of landing a construction job.
“I wanted to get away from automotive, because there’s not much happening there,” Peters said. “I figured I’d try something different.”
Peters said he was interested in heavy equipment operation because he has friends in the business and enjoys working outside. He acknowledged the slim pickings in the local construction sector, but hopes conditions will improve with millions in federal stimulus dollars targeted for roads, bridges and other infrastructure work.
Kingsley resident Joe Sladek is another pupil. He spent more than 20 years on the white-collar side of automotive manufacturing, including the last 13 as a quality engineer at Dura before his layoff last fall.
“Manufacturing’s been my life blood for 23 years,” Sladek said. Sitting in front of a bulldozer dashboard instead of a computer “took some getting used to,” he said, but he’s excited about learning new skills and enhancing his employment options.
“All I’ve wanted to do since I’ve been laid off, I wanted to go back to work,” Sladek said. “I’ve learned a lot in the four weeks we’ve been here … it’s something I can add to my resume.”
Some trainees’ tuition costs were picked up through the No Worker Left Behind program through Michigan Works. Jan Warren, the Northern Michigan Works program director for the 10-county region, said the employment agency enrolled more than 700 residents in some type of job training program, more than three times above last year’s total.
The loss of a long-held job can be emotionally devastating, akin to losing a close friend or family member to death, Warren said.
“To all of a sudden be removed from that environment, it creates grief,” she said. “It’s a given in your life; it’s your routine. It’s not only the work, it’s the relationships there that you’re losing.”
It’s critical for job seekers to expand their skill and knowledge base in today’s economy, Warren said, even if they struggled through school years ago.
“People who’ve worked somewhere 15 to 20 years, they don’t see themselves going back to school,” she said. “But life-long learning is the name of the game now.”
Matt Sherman drives from his home in LeRoy, south of Cadillac, to attend the training. He’s glad to bolster his resume.
“I figured I might as well go out and learn something different,” said Sherman, laid off from a manufacturing plant in Evart in December. “It’s a plus … it’s schooling. After this, I might go out and get more schooling.”
Peake can relate to his students’ challenges. He was laid off from a manufacturing plant in Lansing after 31 years before he started teaching others to run heavy equipment.
“I totally feel for them,” he said.
Training is hard work, and totals 200 hours over five weeks, rain or shine, and students said Peake is a stickler. He harps on operator safety, and measurements on field tests like trench digging and road grades must be within a fraction of an inch for a passing mark. Attention to detail is important, since Peake wants the course to earn a solid reputation among prospective employers.
“If they need an operator, hopefully they’ll call me,” he said.
Not every student is trying to kick-start a career. David Hose, of Lansing, retired in April after 30 years at General Motors, and said he’s learning new skills out of a sense of adventure. He wants to travel across the country and help communities clean up after major catastrophes like tornados or hurricanes.
“I’m not looking to go out and get a steady job. I’m more interested in chasing the storms and doing cleanup work,” Hose said. “If it’s building, tearing down or cleaning up, you’re going to need people to do that.”