Skilled Trades: The Best and Worst Recruiting Environments for a Hard-to-Find Group of Workers

Earlier this year for Forbes, we wrote about the aging skilled trades – a group of 21 production and installation/repair occupations that will soon need an infusion of new talent, if it doesn’t already. EMSI’s third quarter 2013 dataset estimates 21% of skilled-trade workers are at least 55 years old, and another 29% are between the ages of 45 and 54.

The skilled-trades workforce isn’t just getting older, though. At least a segment of these workers are also in short supply, judging by employer surveys like Manpower’s, which has ranked the skilled trades as the hardest job to fill for four consecutive years (2010-2013).

Part of the issue might be the perception of these jobs; many young people don’t want to pursue fields in which they think the opportunities, type of work, and pay aren’t great. Never mind that the fastest-growing skilled trade, computer controlled machine tool operators, is a tech-oriented, solid-paying occupation that’s grown 17% in the U.S. since 2010.

Speaking of computer controlled machine operators, we used EMSI’s Talent Market Analyst to see in which U.S. metros it’s hardest and easiest to find these workers. We also looked at the best and worst recruiting environments for two other fast-growing skilled trades – machinists and industrial machinery mechanics.

EMSI determines the recruiting environment for more than 700 classified occupations based on 1) supply and demand (weighted by regional concentration, concentration change, and job change), and 2) relative wage (a proprietary metric that compares absolute and expected wages). For more details on EMSI’s methodology, see this post.

Computer controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic

Added an estimated 21,000 jobs nationally since 2010, a 17% increase.

Best recruiting environments:

• Mansfield, Ohio — A former site for a GM plant, Mansfield has a strong but declining concentration of computer controlled machine tool operators and higher-than-expected median earnings given the regional occupational mix ($27,976 per year). It has a strong supply of workers and decreasing competition.
• Augusta-Richmond County, Ga.-S.C. — This metro that straddles the Georgia-South Carolina border has low absolute and relative wages ($21,868 median earnings) and an average competitive environment for machine tool operators.
• Among the other metros with semi-favorable environments: Sheboygan, Wisc.; Victoria, Texas; Fargo, N.D.; South Bend-Mishawaka, Ind.-Mich.; Huntsville, Ala.

Worst recruiting environments:

• Richmond, Va. — Richmond is the only unfavorable environment in the U.S. for computer controlled machine tool operators, based on low talent supply (its concentration is only 27% of the national average) and sky-high wages ($70,456 median earnings, nearly twice the national average).
• McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas — Like Richmond, McAllen has a very low concentration of these workers (19% of the national average). And its high relative and absolute wages indicate a tough recruiting environment.
• Among the other metros with semi-unfavorable environments: Racine, Wisc.; Salt Lake City; El Paso, Texas; Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Memphis.

Machinists

Added nearly 50,000 estimated new jobs nationally since 2010, a 14% increase.

Best recruiting environments:

• Jackson, Tenn. — Machinist jobs are declining in Jackson, but the supply of talent remains strong. This indicates an eased competition environment.
• Ann Arbor, Mich. – Another semi-favorable environment based on Ann Arbor’s strong supply of machinists and declining concentration.
• Among the other metros with semi-favorable environments: Janesville, Wisc.; Fond du Lac, Wisc.; Muncie, Ind.; Mansfield, Ohio; Huntsville, Ala.  

Worst recruiting environments:

• Florence-Muscle Shoals, Ala. — Florence is the only unfavorable recruiting environment in the U.S. for machinists, based on steep median earnings ($54,790) and brisk competition. With a concentration twice the national average, machinists are regionally important and growing (up 20% since 2010).
• Rochester, Minn. — Known as a hub for health care, Rochester is also a tough place to recruit machinists. Jobs for this production occupation are up 24% since 2010.
• Among the other metros with semi-unfavorable environments: Flint, Mich.; Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown; Orlando; Trenton-Ewing, N.J. Note: There are 90-plus other metros with semi-unfavorable environments for machinists.

Industrial machinery mechanics

Added an estimated 35,000 jobs since 2010, a 12% increase.

Best recruiting environments:

• Morristown, Tenn. — Morristown has a combination of a strong but declining concentration of industrial machinery mechanics and higher-than-expected wages given the metro’s occupation mix. That all adds up to a semi-favorable, but unpredictable, recruiting environment.
• Burlington, N.C. — Like Morristown, Burlington has a solid supply (and a declining concentration) of industrial machinery mechanics.
• Other metros with semi-favorable environments: Dalton, Ga.; Longview, Wash.; Battle Creek, Mich.; Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, La.; Fort Smith, Ark.

Worst recruiting environments:

• Florence-Muscle Shoals, Ala. – A double whammy for Florence — it’s an unfavorable recruiting environment for machinists and industrial machinery mechanics. Wages for industrial machinery mechanics are high ($38,642) and there’s brisk competition. Jobs for industrial machinery mechanics are up 31% since 2010.
• Springfield, Miss. — Springfield’s concentration of industrial machinery mechanics is 51% of the national average, indicating a tight labor supply, and wages are unfavorable.
• Four other metros have unfavorable recruiting environments: Hot Springs, Ark.; Ithaca, N.Y.; Missoula, Mont.; and Pascagoula, Miss.

Data for this post was taken from Talent Market Analyst, EMSI’s new tool for recruiters. If you’d like to see the best and worst markets for the other jobs on this list — or other occupations in general — email Josh Wright. Follow EMSI on Twitter @DesktopEcon.