Help Wanted: Young Talent Need Apply

Valve manufacturers are hiring! But our members are struggling to find enough talent to fill their growing needs. So what’s a trade association to do? Adapt… and help our members adapt.

Like BVAA, the Valve Manufacturers Association started 75 years ago in response to the booming industrial era, in which companies required both increased standardization and specialization. Over the years, the industry we represent has evolved and includes U.S. and Canadian firms known for their outstanding engineering. This is an industry that underpins many others and serves as a bellwether for how manufacturing is faring globally. Over the years, VMA has become a seal of approval for those looking to do business with our members.

As we look ahead, the challenges the industry faces today are bigger as we serve a global customer base and employ a global workforce. The industry—like so many others in the U.S. and beyond— is facing a triple threat. Our workforce is graying, and we are on the precipice of losing a lot of experienced workers. Conversely, our younger technical talent pool isn’t keeping pace with our growing industry. Also, we need a workforce that can operate in a global community—with language abilities and cultural awareness.

As a multi-billion industry, the valve and actuator business greatly contributes to the success of other key industries that rely on its products to keep their products working. Products manufactured by VMA members are used in numerous industries, including: chemical processing; petroleum refining; oil and gas exploration, distribution and transmission; power generation; nuclear power; water/wastewater; commercial construction; and pulp and paper. If these industries aren’t ordering our products, then they aren’t producing.

The good news is that the U.S. and Canadian industrial valve market has been on an upward trend since 2010, again reaching the high levels witnessed in 2008. We have also seen growth both domestically as well as internationally as our members adapt to and benefit from globalization.

But in order to sustain this growth we must overcome workforce issues which threaten the competitiveness of the U.S. and Canadian valve industry. According to the American Youth Policy Forum, “the STEM (scientific, technical, engineering, and manufacturing) occupational category is one of the fastestgrowing in the economy… [but] the U.S. is currently not producing enough STEM talent to satisfy market demands.”

While there are many reasons for this, including the need for better STEM instruction, we know we cannot just wait and see what happens. That’s why we have placed more emphasis on training and education to help our industry meet the needs of our customers and retain its competitive advantage.

As part of this effort to reach the next generation, VMA established an in-depth valve education program—Valve Ed—in 2009 to attract and train current and future valve employees. Today, the program contains creative components such as Valve Basics in a Box, a “Valve Petting Zoo,” and soon an online 101 valve basics training course to promote valve literacy and career interest.

We know this only a start. As an industry, we must be heard on this issue in our local communities where our businesses operate, in business partners, and with all levels of government. We must find ways to interest youth in entering STEM fields and promote the high-quality jobs we offer.

After all, demand for our products will only expand driven by technology and worldwide consumption. We need the best and brightest workforce to ensure we can deliver them.

Bill Sandler, CAE, is president of the Valve Manufacturers Association of America, which represents the interests of U.S. and Canadian valve, actuator and control manufacturers. For more information about VMA, please visit www.VMA.org.

Published: 8th October 2013