1979 FIN – Shortage of Tool & Die Makers Forecast Within 8 Years
December 12, 1979 FIN – Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Metal Stamping Association, John R. Popovich said that within the next eight years he views a critical shortage of skilled tool and diemakers.
Popovich, the incoming AMSA president, said the average age of Class A tool and diemakers in the U.S. is 55 and according to the Labor Department there would be job openings for 8,700 tool and diemakers each year through the foreseeable future.
Last year there were only 2,400 tool and die makers completing registered apprenticeships.
The industry is producing only about 25% of the skilled journeymen each year needed to replace those lost through attrition.
When the “tidal wave of mass retirement hits in seven or eight years down the road” the results will be “catastrophic,” Popovich said.
Popovich, who is senior vice president of the Freeway Corp., Cleveland, Ohio, said AMSA will focus its attention on this problem.
The answer is not in automation, he said. Computerized machine tools and wire-feed electrical discharge machines (EDM) only tend to show that tool and diemakers are “indispensable.” ©1979/2012 Fastener Industry News
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