By Greg Kozera, Shale Crescent USA
We just finished a Zoom call with a company in Eurasia. The CEO said his biggest problem is hiring and keeping people. He told us about a young man who turned down their job offer. The CEO called the individual to find out why. The young man said he was still living with his parents and only needed enough money for entertainment not rent or food. He didn’t want to work full time. I hear similar stories from plant managers in our region. Workforce participation is not unique to the USA. This company plans to expand to the USA. Energy, raw materials and workforce are their three biggest needs.
John Deskins, an economist at West Virginia University said West Virginia’s work force participation rate (the number of people working or looking for work) is only 55%. The national average is 63%. Ohio’s participation rate is 62.3%. Pennsylvania’s is 62.2%.
This week at the 2024 West Virginia Manufacturing Conference in Bridgeport, put on by the WVU Industrial Extension, the focus wasn’t on jobs. It was on workforce to fill existing and coming jobs. One Vice-President told me he has all the business he can handle. He needs people to expand.
Staci Miller, Director WVU Industrial Extension explains, “The WVU Industrial Extension is dedicated to driving innovation and continuous improvement by challenging the status quo and providing creative solutions that help manufacturers optimize operations, reduce risks, and empower their workforce. Speakers were from the WVU Industrial Extension and private industry sharing their expertise. Presentations were on training methods, employee engagement, health & safety, continuous improvement, supply chain, strategic planning and innovation.” Ohio and Pennsylvania have similar organizations.
Successful companies understand it’s not just finding and hiring qualified people. Keeping people productive and on the job is essential. A sick or injured employee isn’t productive. Having a safe and healthy workforce is good business. Treating people with respect and as the valuable asset they are is important. A lot can be learned at the fire pit following a meeting. At the Plastics News Executive Forum, I visited with an executive from one of the Top 10 Best Places to Work and asked, “Do you have any trouble finding employees?” He laughed, “My competitors have no idea some of their best people are on our HR’s to call list when someone quits or retires.” It takes time and money to hire and train people.
For Shale Crescent USA, the conference was a networking opportunity. We connected a local company to one of our foreign prospects who can provide them with economical feedstock. The local company can provide an important service to our foreign prospect. It is a win-win-win opportunity with the community winning jobs and investment. We connected both companies on a phone call while at the event. They will meet in person next week.
Demographic expert Peter Zion predicts an influx of manufacturing to the USA and other Asian countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh and India as China’s workforce ages. The European Union has similar aging workforce problems. Workforce is a global issue. In many developed countries workforce is aging as fertility rates decline. The total fertility rate of a population (TFR) is the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime. A TFR of 2.1 children per woman is required to insure a stable population. Rates below 2.1 result in a declining population without migration and less young people of working age. In 2024 India has a 2.2 TFR and is now the most populous country in the world. Other TFRs are; USA 1.79, European Union 1.62, China 1.71 and Vietnam 2.01
Finding workers is becoming a challenge. Companies need to find creative ways to keep the workers they have and improve workforce participation. At SelectUSA, the Shale Crescent USA organization talked to over 80 companies. Of these over a quarter have decided to expand to or invest in the USA and are in various stages of the process. A number have specific projects with detailed information and time lines of when they want to be in operation in the USA.
To get an energy intensive manufacturer to consider the Shale Crescent USA (SCUSA) region is easy. If the SCUSA region was a country it would be the 3rd largest natural gas producing country in the world behind only Russia and the rest of the USA. Energy cost in SCUSA is one tenth of what it is in Europe and Asia.
Energy isn’t the only reason companies want to come to the USA. They want to sell their products into the U.S. market, the largest economy in the world. Foreign companies see the USA as a stable place to invest. The challenge for foreign investors is where to invest in the USA. At SelectUSA companies came back to the SCUSA booth on the final morning of the expo confused. “Every state claims to be #1. Can you help us?” What we explain is manufacturing historically follows energy supply. Very quickly their choices can be narrowed down to 5 or 6 states.
The next question prospects ask is about workforce. Companies with projects told us how many workers they need and what type. This is more challenging and why organizations like WVU Manufacturing Extension are important. Helping young people to understand today’s manufacturing is high tech not like the high muscle manufacturing my grandfather and uncles did. Two-year technical training may be a better option than college. My students at Pierpont Technical College all had $50-60,000 a year jobs by October of their 2nd year. They just had to graduate in May and be drug free.
High wage jobs are here, more are coming. SCUSA has spent the last 2 months doing Zoom follow-up calls with prospects and working with state economic development people. Now companies are coming to visit the region. Foreign companies are coming to visit the SCUSA in each of the next two weeks. We have energy, raw materials, markets, stability and great location. We need workers.
© 2024 Shale Crescent USA
Greg Kozera, [email protected] is the Director of Marketing for Shale Crescent USA. He is a professional engineer with a Masters in Environmental Engineering and over 40 years experience in the energy industry. Greg is a leadership expert, high school soccer coach, professional speaker, author of four books and many published articles.
