Today’s Manufacturing Careers: Youth Awareness, Career Transitions, and My Belief in Outreach
By Kristin Carlson, Owner of Peerless Precision
As the owner of Peerless Precision, I believe strongly in the viability and importance of American manufacturing careers. This industry has powered innovation and created opportunity for generations, and it continues to do that today. But too many people still have an outdated image of manufacturing careers, thinking of dirty shop floors in movies or news headlines about unstable jobs.
I’ll be honest: That misconception really frustrates me. Because it keeps people from discovering careers that could be exactly what they’re looking for.
Modern manufacturing careers are high-tech and offer significant opportunities for growth. That’s why I spend a lot of time speaking to high schools and adult career change programs to share my own story and explain why this path is the right one for so many people.
Youth Outreach in Action
I’m not the sort of person to sit around and wait for change, so I do a lot of outreach to correct these wrong ideas about manufacturing. And when you’re outspoken like I am, you tend to get plenty of invitations.
At local high schools, my talks take different forms. Sometimes it’s an employer panel, other days it’s a career fair. We helped in building a maker space at Junior Achievement of Western Mass, so I often speak there about the industry. But no matter what else is on my calendar, these visits are the most important thing I do that day. Because I want to open people’s eyes to what American manufacturing looks like in 2025.
The Benefits of Manufacturing Careers
A lot of kids and their parents have heard a lot of nonsense about how manufacturing is dead. To help them understand why that’s wrong, I focus on a few points:
Real opportunities right now. There are far more opportunities for growth than people realize; over time, machinists can make six figures without a college degree. At Peerless Precision, we even offer a profit-sharing program for every employee based on our KPIs.
Immediate entry and continuous training. College requires massive debt for most people; in precision machining, you earn money immediately. You can come in right away and contribute because we’re ready to help train anyone with the right attitude.
Tangible results. Not everyone wants to sit in a classroom or an office. Manufacturing means producing a tangible product, something that you can hold in your hands and take pride in.
Consequential work. The products we make matter. Every plane these kids see in the sky has $200,000 of parts that were made in Westfield, MA. The CNC-machined components we produce played a role in the technology used to help catch the Boston Marathon bomber.
Supporting Adult Career Changers
Too many people today are told that once they enter a career in their 20s, they’re locked in for life. It simply isn’t true, and I’m a perfect example of that. I dropped out of college and worked in other industries before finding my perfect fit in manufacturing many years later.
That’s why I don’t just perform youth outreach, I work with adult programs, as well. I recently spoke at the final ceremony for a 12-week CNC training course at Springfield Technical Community College, and only weeks later, one of the graduates had joined our team. He dove in headfirst, and he’s already learned an incredible amount about our CNC machining services. With the right attitude, he’ll quickly climb the ladder.
Request a Quote
Workforce conversations in our industry often focus on a “labor shortage” or fears of a coming retirement wave. It’s true that we’re fortunate to have many excellent older employees, but our shop is filled with talented people of every generation. We’re committed to outreach and training so that the pipeline never runs dry.
After all, if manufacturing were dead, shops like ours wouldn’t be here. But next year is our 50th anniversary, and we’re not going anywhere.
Whether you need tight tolerance machining, lapping services, or any of our other capabilities, we’re ready to help your next project. Request a quote today from our AS9100 machine shop!
