New study reveals upcoming manufacturing jobs

A study by the Peninsula Council for Workforce Development and Thomas Nelson Community College has identified 11,500 upcoming manufacturing jobs in top Virginia Peninsula companies.

According to the study, skilled trades and precision production workers will be in demand from 2012 to 2016.

The study, called "Skills to Succeed Inventory" uses federal databases for its results as well as interviews with company executives and manpower planners. It was funded by the Ford Foundation and Virginia's Community Colleges, and is part of the Peninsula Career Pathways Collaborative.

TNCC President, Dr. John Dever, is quoted in a news release about the study, saying the results are "a call to action for our businesses, school divisions, colleges and universities to partner together to build, re-engineer and accelerate adult and youth career pathways into these upcoming manufacturing jobs."

According to the news release, the 14 businesses that took part in the study currently employ just under 90 percent of the region's manufacturing workforce. In the same release, Dr. Deborah Wright, TNCC Vice President of Workforce Development, notes that not only will retiring workers need to be replaced, but half of the manufacturing companies interviewed "expect to expand business from 8 percent to 25 percent."

For more information or to view the study, visit www.virginiacareerpathways.org.

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