The Chair of the Huron Manufacturing Association says The Shortage of Manpower is Going to Be An On-going Problem For Some Time

by Bob Montgomery

The Chair of the Huron Manufacturing Association says the shortage of manpower is a problem that's being felt throughout the entire region.

And Larry Livingston says it's a problem that isn't going to go away anytime soon. The Manufacturing Association recently held a meeting at the Maelstrom Winery near Seaforth to bring members up to date about some of the issues facing manufacturers. Livingston says the number one challenge is a shortage of people in the skilled trades and it extends beyond Huron County to the entire four county region. Livingston says people 45 years old and older seem to be staying on the job and while there are a significant number of new people moving into the area, they're coming here to retire.

Livingston says the Huron Manufacturing Association has done a good job of promoting the skilled trades to younger people who are just entering the job market, but there's a huge gap in people between the ages of twenty-four and forty-five in the work force. And, he points out, in the four county area, seventeen percent of the population is in that age group.

Encouraging new people to come and work in Huron County is difficult if there's no housing for them, and many people who already live in Huron County are driving out of the county to work. Although, Livingston says he believes the number of people driving out of the county is offset by the number of people who drive into the county to work. He says one of the things the Manufacturing Association is encouraging their members to do is up-skill the new people they do have coming in to the area, so they're not stuck at entry-level jobs and they take on more of a leadership role, which tends to keep them here.