Although plastics is the 3^rd-largest U.S. industry and employs around 900,000 U.S. workers, many young people are not aware of the opportunities available in this industry. Plastics companies also point out that education in skilled trades is getting less emphasis in today’s college-focused education system. In response, plastics companies are creating innovative programs and using educational outreach to help bridge their workforce gaps by attracting and training students who will keep tomorrow’s plastics industry running strong.

Companies use a variety of approaches to reach young people. Formal internship or apprentice programs can impart specific skills and valuable experience to high school or college students, while a plant tour or career day shows students the exciting and rewarding aspects of a career working with plastics.

Engaging Youth

Intertech Plastics has been active in local classrooms for 25 of the 35 years it has been operating. The company’s CEO and founder, Noel Ginsburg, says that it’s key to engage youth in what they learn and to focus on career readiness at an earlier age. 

Intertech hosts interactive school visits throughout the year, in partnership with the Denver (Colorado) Public Schools’ CareerConnect program, as an opportunity for students to become immersed in a real plant and learn about the different important roles at Intertech. Last year around 100 students in groups of 15 to 20 spent three hours in the company’s consumer goods facility. They received a broad overview of the business and types of jobs available, and also spent time at different stations on the production floor, where they learned how to apply skills such as calculating the ratio of color to resin for a plastic part, or moving robotic arms based on plotted coordinates.

“It’s important for students to apply what they are learning in the classroom to what they will do on the job—creating a supply and demand for knowledge generated by the students’ own priorities,” Ginsburg says. “This makes the information more relevant to an individual’s needs.”

During the summers, Intertech offers a variety of internships for both high school and college students. Last summer an intern from the Denver South High School worked in the quality department where he learned how to use vision systems and the high-precision measurement devices used in the company’s medical facility. He continues to gain valuable skills and experience by working at Intertech after school.

Ginsburg explains that the existing gap in the number of available jobs and the unemployed occurs because people don’t know about the types of jobs available at companies like Intertech, and, therefore, can’t train for them.

“It’s important that students gain an appreciation for individualized skill and craftsmanship and that we create opportunity for growth and accomplishment that doesn’t have to be tied to traditional practices,” he says. “This promotes some of the more niche and hard-to-do job positions, really utilizing all of the available paths and putting them on display—in a nutshell, providing the opportunity for youth to utilize their resources to the best of their ability.” 

Ginsburg is now taking the company’s internship program a step further by working with others to develop similar programs in other fields. They’re focusing on advanced manufacturing, informational technology, heath care, and banking because these fields have a large number unfilled jobs and specialized positions, while also requiring some sort of post-secondary training. 

“The program is about developing skilled, professional youth who can be involved in a career that fits them at an earlier age,” he says. “For this to work, we have to reach out to the different fields and expand the whole idea, rather than just a few examples.” 

Anticipating a Workforce Shortage

David Preusse, president of Wittmann Battenfeld Inc., explains that although many members of the baby-boomer generation are waiting longer to retire, he’s nervous about who will fill their shoes when they do retire.

To help expose more students to careers in the plastics industry, the company reaches out to the community through events such as Manufacturing Day. This annual event takes place at manufacturing companies across the country with a goal of addressing common misperceptions through a coordinated opportunity to showcase what really takes place in a manufacturing facility.

“During Manufacturing Day, we host local vocational and high schools, giving them tours of Wittmann Battenfeld so they can learn about our industry, what we do, and all the career opportunities that exist here,” Preusse says. “We make our presentations in laymen’s terms, and show plastic parts to which the audience can relate.” 

Wittmann Battenfeld also supports First Robotics Clubs at local schools with donations and by giving the clubs tours of their factory. Students in these mentor-based, research and robotics programs offer a good fit for the company because they’re usually technical-minded. Other types of outreach include family days where families and friends can come see what takes place at the facility, and a variety of career fairs.

Both high school and college internships have been very successful in attracting workers to the company. Preusse points out that he was an intern himself once. “We have about five student interns who joined us after college,” he says. “One is now a divisional manager at just 28 years old, another is head of technical sales and project management for the injection molding machine division, and yet another launched the company’s quality control and continuous improvement project.”

In addition, Wittmann Battenfeld provides technical schools with equipment that gives students hands-on opportunities to learn on the same cutting-edge machines used in real manufacturing facilities. It has also created a college scholarship that honors company founder Dr. Werner Wittmann and is awarded to a graduating senior from Kennedy High School in Waterbury, Connecticut, each year.

Developing Skilled Workers

PTI Engineered Plastics developed the PTI Technical Academy to help fill the shortage in skilled labor for plastics manufacturing. Mark Rathbone, the company’s CEO, created the academy to provide a pathway for students with a passion for creation to learn skills in the manufacturing industries. 

The Academy is a nine-week program where high school students learn about career opportunities in manufacturing through classes such as mold design, CNC programming, electrical discharge machining, mold maintenance, shop safety, the part design process, and engineering. 

“At the high school level, the majority of students don’t have an idea of what manufacturing is about,” explains Scott Kraemer, directing manager of the PTI Technical Academy. “There are not a lot of classes offered on what we do for a living, so we are trying to help give students ideas of what careers in plastics injection molding manufacturing are like.” 

Macomb County (Michigan) high schools help identify good candidates for the academy, some of which are at-risk students who might not have a clear career path. Although there’s no charge to any of the students who participate in the program, they are asked to commit to completing the entire program. The PTI Academy is now in its second year and has graduated two classes.

Kraemer says that one of the biggest hurdles to launching the program was gaining state approval for students as young at 16 to legally use equipment in an industrial setting. “Ideally we would be reaching seventh and eighth graders, because by the ninth grade, schools are already starting to direct students into an academic path for high school,” he says. “However, sixteen is the youngest student we’re legally allowed to take into an industrial environment.” 

PTI has already hired five of the students from the program, and its human resources department is helping all the students who go through the program to further their education by helping them enroll into traditional apprentice programs at PTI, or with other companies within Macomb County. 

The company also participates in events such as Manufacturing Day and career days at local schools. At these events, PTI exposes students to manufacturing careers by showing them that manufacturing facilities are creative environments and not the greasy, dirty factories they might picture.

Betting on the Future

“Our push to educate the general population about plastics is only in its beginning,” Wittmann Battenfeld’s Dave Preusse says.

Meanwhile, “As the population curve ramps up, if jobs are tougher to get in other careers, graduates will find plastics naturally,” he adds. “Because of a shortage in workers, plastics careers are paying well and offering quicker advancement than some other areas.”