Bay Area manufacturing companies push apprenticeships amid aging workforce crisis

Manufacturing workforce report

A new Florida TaxWatch report warns that an aging workforce could create major labor shortages, with more than half of manufacturing workers age 45 or older. FOX 13's Briona Arradondo reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - This month, Florida TaxWatch released a new report looking at the state's $86.6 billion manufacturing industry. 

The backstory:

The report said Florida outperforms others in the sector, but more than half of Florida’s manufacturing workforce is ages 45 and older. So, those experienced workers will retire and leave open a number of jobs to fill.

"Yes, we're very aware of that. About 25% of [the] manufacturing workforce are 55 years and older. So, they will be retiring, and in the next 10 years there will be many openings," Beth Galic, president of the Bay Area Manufacturers Association, said.

EMI Industries in Tampa is part of the Bay Area's manufacturing hub. Nick Millard, the director of manufacturing and process control, said the company uses wood and metal to make products, including counters, food displays and kitchens for big name corporations such as Publix, Wawa and Starbucks. And they want more talent on their shop floor.

"We last year tried our first internship. It was very successful. As a matter of fact, immediately after graduating, he came and started working right directly with us," Millard said.

A move like that matters as manufacturing is facing a long-term challenge.

What they're saying:

 "We know that removing things like shop class out of your typical high school has been a detriment to our industry altogether," Millard said. "It has become incumbent on our teams to discover ways and implement ways that we can facilitate that knowledge from, like you say, your 20, 30-year veterans who are retiring."

The Bay Area Manufacturers Association is pushing to bring more apprenticeships to the region and make the career more enticing.

"It's very difficult to be able to afford a place to live that is by some of our manufacturing companies. So that's something that we're looking into," Galic said. "The median salary is about sixty-some thousand dollars a year right now for manufacturing, so they can be trained and upscaled."

Galic said they want to hear from companies about their needs and desire for apprenticeships. The association also works with public schools to get children exposed to the trade early on.