Bob Leach, senior vice president and general manager for the Lumirror Division
of Toray Plastics, says his company doesn’t have a problem finding a strong
candidate when it comes to filling an opening for an engineer. With URI, in
particular, and other colleges and universities nearby, there is a “rich environment”
of candidates for such jobs.
But when the opening is for an entry-level job requiring just basic skill sets, it’s a very different story for the Toray division operating out of Quonset Point in North Kingstown.
“We interview 22 people in order to find one ideal candidate,” said Leach.
That’s right – 22 interviews, just to find one with the basic reading and math skills – someone with an ability to communicate and follow directions. That’s a lot of time – and, in turn, expense – on the part of a company to fill a single slot.
And don’t think Toray is alone. We hear the same story at other manufacturers – large and small.
This is a serious problem. And whether you are an educator, a business owner, a parent or a politician, you share in the responsibility for fixing it.
Leach’s comments came during a panel discussion I moderated on Thursday, April 8 at Business Expo 2004 at the Convention Center.
The topic was “The State of Manufacturing.” Joining Leach on the panel were Gov. Don Carcieri; James Hagerty, a senior vice president at Citizens Bank; George deTarnowski, executive director of the Central Rhode Island Development Corporation; and John Cronin, chief executive officer of the Rhode Island Manufacturer’s Extension Service.
The discussion was a spirited one. Manufacturing is important to Rhode Island. It’s personal. It’s always been what we are, something we’re proud of – that we are a place where things are made.
But times are tough. Too often, the stories we run of late about manufacturing are about companies moving production offshore and cutting the number of people they employ.
I expected the panel discussion to center on the issues so often cited as reasons why manufacturers struggle.
I was sure that the rising cost of health care benefits, utility bills and overseas competition would dominate the agenda.
At points, those issues did come up. They are real problems.
But the subject that drew out the best of the discussion wasn’t about health insurance or electricity. It was about education.
It was about how, for whatever reason, we are failing our kids – and in turn, failing our own economy.
deTarnowski, at one time a dean at Bryant College and Roger Williams University, said this phenomena represents a bigger problem than poor performing schools. It goes much deeper.
“Education has been dumbed down and it’s been going on for 50 or 60 years,” he said. “We’ve dumbed down our curriculum and now we are losing our edge. But this is a cultural problem. We have parents who don’t take charge of their kids.”
A problem that is decades in the making obviously isn’t going to be fixed overnight. But nor can it be ignored.
The governor said that he sees a “huge gap” in terms of performance at our high schools. Yes, there are high-performing students destined for successful college careers that should springboard them into professional success.
But there are far too many others who are going from one year to the next, one grade to another, without securing the basic skills they need.
They’re the ones who are showing up on interviews at places like Toray Plastics and as much as someone like Leach may want to hire them, he knows he can’t, because ultimately, that would hurt the business and the jobs of others on the line.
So one interview leads to the next, and eventually, an employer finds a viable candidate – even if it is the 22nd person through the door.
Maybe the saddest thing, as I see it, is that these young people are missing out on some terrific jobs – on opportunities. At Toray, Leach says that a trained technician with just three years on the job can be earning $40,000 per year. That’s right out of high school.
Someone needs to tell these kids that a little bit of writing and a little bit of math can go a long way.
