HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A recent study with in-state manufacturers shows that there are opportunities waiting for new workers.
The study, which was conducted by the Marshall University Advanced Manufacturing Center, got respondents from 83 different manufacturers across West Virginia. The manufacturers said that they need an additional 2,700 full-time workers over the next 12 months and nearly 7,000 over the next three years.
“When I see this, I see that there’s wonderful pathways for people to realize good-paying careers in manufacturing in the Mountain State,” said Derek Scarbro, director of Marshall University Advanced Manufacturing Center.
According to a release from Marshall’ Advanced Manufacturing Center, most of the 83 respondents indicated that they expect to hire 1,035 production/operators, 309 laborers/logistics, 251 quality assurance and testing, 241 maintenance technicians, 224 machinists and 222 welders over the next year.
The survey went on to show that over the next three years, the numbers will rise to 1,686 production/operators, 470 laborers, 344 quality assurance and testing, 455 maintenance technicians, 317 machinists and 274 welders.
“We really want to encourage people to look at that and understand all the opportunity that is here. There’s a wide variety of manufacturers hiring, a wide variety of different types of positions at these companies that pay very well and it’s a good career path to pursue,” Scarbro told MetroNews.
He says these positions are needed for a variety of different reasons.
“Many of these are brand new jobs at new companies or existing companies that are expanding. Some of these are positions that are natural turnover from people retiring and that’s certainly accelerating as the population gets older,” Scarbro said.
The results from the survey also went on to show an especially strong demand in the Huntington and Charleston metro regions.
“Certainly, a lot of the manufacturing in West Virginia is concentrated in this Tri-State region, but that’s not to say that there’s not other large pockets as well,” he said. “In the eastern panhandle and northern West Virginia, there’s big pockets of manufacturers as well, but there are quite a number of new opportunities, new companies and current companies growing in the Wayne, Mason and Kanawha County triangle, with Jackson and Putnam and Cabell included.”
“Everyone know about Nucor and Timet and they’re very significant, but you have a lot of other companies like Toyota, Alcon and Service Wire that are expanding as well, as well as many others,” he continued.
Scarbro says this data needs to be a driving force for trade schools, universities, community colleges, and others to step up and train the next generation of manufacturing workers.
“It’s really a strong emphasis for us to get to work harder and help people gain the skills they need to fill these jobs and help these companies grow,” Scarbro said. “If we as a state can realize this opportunity and help these companies fill these positions, we’ll really be making a big impact on our economy. Just imagine another 7,000 families with a good paying job in the household working at these manufacturing companies. It would do a lot for our state.”