Engineers and other highly skilled technicians have become the key in an increasing proportion of Bay State industry since the war, but a shortage in training facilities threatens to put the state at a disadvantage with other industrial regions if it is not corrected.
This is the finding of the Commission on the Audit of State Needs, which today pointed out that since World War II the newer industries — those requiring a high technician ratio HTR — have added 19,900 jobs to the state’s total manufacturing payrolls.
This increase, the non-partisan research agency pointed out, has to some extent, offset the 38,200 drop in total manufacturing jobs in that period.
The growing industrial area around Norwood points up the shift in the state’s industrial picture, according to the audit which reported an increase of 1039 jobs in the ”HTR” or high-tech industries In the 1947-56 Period.
The sharp rise in the “newer industries” comprised the bulk of the 1266 rise in all manufacturing employment. The Audit found this increase in concerns requiring skilled help — from technicians to engineers — significant and foresaw a steady upward spiral in the demand for such workers in this region
About one-fifth of Norwood’s 11,733 manufacturing workforce — or 2880 persons — is found in the “newer industries’’, the Audit reported This compares favorably with those Raj State industrial regions that have grown since the war, the Audit said. When one considers the growth rate around Norwood.
The Audit found the Norwood region had exercised “considerable initiative” in bringing in new industries for its growing population Its proximity to Route 128. the Audit stated, should bode well for its industrial future as the “HTR” firms step up their move to the Greater Boston perimeter
“HTR” concerns include such industries as electronics, chemicals and plastics, machinery, and transportation, the Audit explained.
The need for highly trained technicians is not a temporary problem, the Audit pointed out.
The newer, high-skill industries require a much higher percentage of technicians than do the more traditional manufacturing plants, and the proportion of engineers and other skilled workers and actually continue to grow, the Audit studies show.
The time to plan to meet this need is now, the Audit said, since engineering and scientific education is extremely expensive, requiring specialized and costly equipment and facilities and a highly-trained faculty most of whom can earn several times their salaries In industrial concerns.
“This means.” the research group explained, “that engineering and scientific schools ought to be gradually increasing their facilities now’ so that by 1970 they will be turning out twice as many graduates as now Only in that way can we moot the shortage.
As for “skilled technicians. Bay State industry now employs more than 123,000 with training equivalent to that provided in such schools as Lowell Technological, Bradford-Durfee and Wentworth Institute, and others.
(All articles originally appeared in the Norwood Messenger unless otherwise noted)