Apprenticeships: An Old Concept Gains Steam in Current Job Market
One seldom reads “apprenticeships” and “cutting edge” in the same sentence, but the marketplace is reviving the age-old concept. Apprenticeships offer many job seekers a route to higher education, on-the-job instruction and a competitive salary in an unpredictable job market.
Apprenticeships are also surprisingly effective for helping employers fill positions for which a critical shortage of employees with the right skills exists. A generation of skilled workers is reaching retirement age, and savvy businesses see apprenticeships as a useful tool to find and train young, skilled workers.
Millwright apprenticeships at Stimson Lumber Company
Stimson Lumber Company, based in Forest Grove is one such company. Stimson has made apprenticeship programs part of the company’s solution to fill openings that result from a retiring workforce.
“There is a dire need to recruit millwright apprentices to help backfill the baby boomers we are losing to retirement,” Said Dennis Tracey, human resources manager. “We recently had three employees retire within three months of each other, and apprenticeships offer a way to have a new generation waiting to fill these voids.”
Tracey recruits high school juniors and seniors into the Tillamook Millwright Apprenticeship Program. The program is a partnership between Tillamook Bay Community College, Tillamook High School and Stimson Lumber Company.
“This program offers students a chance to enter a rewarding career that definitely has opportunities and openings in the future,” said Tracey.
The apprenticeship program enables a student to benefit from 8,000 hours of on the job training and complete 6,500 hours of classroom education. Upon completion, the apprentice receives an associate's degree (paid for by Stimson Lumber) as well as a journeyman millwright's card. Stimson pays a competitive salary during training and pays for classes and textbooks. Upon completion, the apprentice has a job waiting for him or her that offers two separate benefit packages.
“Second year apprentices make $40,000 annually and many will be making $50,000 annually by the time they are twenty-three years old,” stated Tracey.
In addition to the Tillamook Apprenticeship Program, Stimson Lumber will participate in the recently funded Youth Electrician Apprenticeship Program. The program begins in the fall and will help manufacturers find suitable apprenticeship candidates to study careers as electricians.
Apprenticeships at Hampton Lumber Mills
Stimson Lumber isn’t the only company that has realized the power of apprenticeships. Hampton Lumber Mills in Willamina has created its own in-house apprenticeship opportunities for students interested in learning a trade.
“Skilled maintenance and electrical positions are at a critical shortage in this country,” said Mark Elston, plant manager. “By training our local youth and our present employees on the intricacies of these trades—programmable logic controls, pneumatics, hydraulics, motion control, mechanics and electricity—we have the ability to enact change.”
Importance of apprenticeships to Oregon’s economy
Oregon ranks in the middle of the pack nationally in apprenticeship opportunities, and many think the state needs to be more aggressive in offering these types of opportunities.
“It's not just a need in Tillamook County,” said Tillamook Bay Community College President Joe Carnahan. “Statewide and nationally the demand for trained industrial maintenance technicians is at a critical level and becoming more critical as boomers reach retirement. Without programs that are tied to the community colleges, manufacturers will not be able to fill critical positions to maintain competitiveness.”
The current job market is uncertain, and the country has been losing jobs since 2007—including over 20,000 losses in April 2008 alone. Apprenticeships offer a win-win solution: They provide family-wage jobs for employees and fill critical skilled positions in industry that allow its engines to keep humming in Oregon.