Blue Collar and Proud of It: The All-In-One Resource for Finding Freedom, Financial Success, and Security Outside the Cubicle Read Free Page A

means more jobs in the transportation sector and a possible shortage of jobs if we don’t have well-trained individuals ready to join these industries.
    People love to say that nothing is made in America anymore. But more is produced in the United States than ever before, the top-three products being food, computers and electronics, and motor vehicles. As of 2005, the manufacturing industry was producing close to $1.5 trillion in goods, and the United States exported more than $1.023 trillion as compared to the $612.1 billion in goods exported in 1996. That amount has practically doubled in less than ten years. And while the auto industry has suffered tremendously, especially in Michigan, new factories are being built in the southern states. For example, Volkswagen is building a $1 billion manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is expected to be operational in 2011.
    Did You KNOW?
    The oil and gas industry in Canada is booming. The demand for crude oil and natural gas has risen steadily over the past twenty years, and most of it is exported. Companies are expanding, and the industry is always in need of new employees.
    In Canada, the manufacturing sector employs more than 2.3 million people, or nearly 15 percent of the working population. Combined, themanufacturing, construction, automotive, and mining sectors produce half of Canada’s GDP, or more than $550 billion in services. As in the United States, manufacturing and production are traditionally sources of significant employment in Canada.
    Manufacturing jobs are changing, though, and many require more interpersonal and technical skills than before. Finding adequately trained and highly skilled employees is becoming increasingly difficult for the industry. Companies are constantly looking for employees who are more skilled and can perform in a more sophisticated work environment. The factories don’t resemble those of yesteryear. The dark, dingy, dirty image that many people have in mind is no longer accurate. People can’t go directly from high school into most of these jobs. It’s a more sophisticated world, and with that comes a more sophisticated manufacturing industry. In a study conducted by the National Association of Manufacturing, 81 percent of companies interviewed said they faced a shortage of workers, and 90 percent said this comes from a lack of available skilled workers.
    In 2006, the Ironworkers Union Local #3 in Pittsburgh was having a tough time recruiting new blood. So they launched an ad campaign with the slogan, “We don’t go to the office, we build it.” The national ironworkers organization has adopted the catchy slogan, and more people are paying attention, says William Ligetti, executive director of the Pittsburgh-based Ironworker Employers Association. The number of applicants to the Pittsburgh apprenticeship went up immediately. While there were once ninety applicants per year, the union now has about 200 applying each quarter. And in turn, Ligetti said, the quality of the new hires has dramatically increased. “This is a good-paying job, ” adds Ligetti. “You can go out and say, ‘Hey, I built that, ’ and show your children.”
    Another source of blue-collar jobs will come from America’s crumbling infrastructure. According to a 2006 study by the Federal Highway Administration, 24.5 percent of the country’s bridges were deemed “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete.” They were built shortly after World War II by blue-collar workers and were made to last about fifty years, so they’re all due for an upgrade. Who is going to do all of this work? These buildings and roads don’t grow from seeds. Someone has to physically go out there and build them. Infrastructure experts estimate that $2.2 trillion in work will be needed over the next decade. That’s a lot of jobs. The construction of pipelines for natural gas will also create employment opportunities. As well, most cities around the country