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- Metal & machinery workers: skills opportunities and challenges (2019 update)
Metal & machinery workers: skills opportunities and challenges (2019 update)
Summary
Metal & machinery workers are engaged in a range of skilled activities, which involve: working with metal, such as welding and forging; setting-up machines for operators to use; tool-setting; and repairing machines, including vehicles and engines
Key facts
- Around 8.2 million people were employed as metal & machinery workers in 2018. Employment in the occupation, following the financial crisis in 2008, fell by 14 per cent between 2006 and 2018.
- Employment is projected to drop by a further 11 per cent over the period 2018 to 2030. Despite this employment decline, there will be many job openings for metal & machinery workers. In order to replace those workers who will leave the occupation for one reason or another – an estimated 3.6 million between 2018 and 2030 – and taking into account the projected drop in demand over the same period, still around 2.7 million job openings will need to be filled.
- Metal & machinery workers are found across a range of sectors, but work predominantly in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade (82 per cent of all employment).
- The decline in employment levels of metal, machinery and related trades workers can be attributed to a range of inter-related factors that will continue to affect employment developments and skill needs.
- In the workplace, routine tasks, gathering and evaluating information, creativity and resolution are the most important tasks and skills of metal & machinery workers.
- Over the next decade, the share of low-skilled workers is expected to decrease by 4 per cent. Conversely, the share of high-skilled workers will increase by 4 per cent. However, medium-skilled workers will remain the vast majority of the workforce.
Tasks and skills
Metal, machinery and related trades workers [1] are engaged in a range of skilled activities, which involve: working with metal, such as welding and forging; setting-up machines for operators to use; tool-setting; and repairing machines, including vehicles and engines. The types of jobs undertaken by people in this occupation include: structural metal workers, moulders and welders; blacksmiths and toolmakers; and machinery mechanics and repairers. Metal, machinery and related trades workers need to have an understanding of work organisation, and the specialist materials and tools to be used in their jobs, as well as of the nature and purpose of the final product they are engaged in making.
According to Eurofound's Job Monitor, routine tasks, gathering and evaluating information, creativity and resolution are the most important tasks and skills of metal & machinery workers.
Figure 1: Importance of tasks and skills for metal & machinery workers
Note: The importance of tasks and skills is measured on 0-1 scale, where 0 means least important and 1 means most important.
What are the trends for the future? [2]
The employment level of metal & machinery workers across sectors is expected to decrease by 11.1 per cent between 2018 and 2030, a further contraction following the 13.9 per cent decrease in employment over the period 2006 to 2018. This employment decline is predicted in 24 out of 28 analysed European countries and is expected to be steepest in southern and eastern Europe.
Figure 2: Future employment growth of metal & machinery workers in European countries (2018-2030, in %)
Despite the decrease, many job openings will be available for metal & machinery workers as, over the period 2018-2030, an estimated 3.6 million people are projected to leave the occupation for one reason or another such as retirement[3]. Given the projected decrease in employment over the same period, this will result in there being around 2.7 million job openings that will need to be filled between 2018 and 2030.
Figure 3: Future job openings of metal & machinery workers (2018-2030)
Increasingly, these jobs will be filled by people with higher levels of educational attainment than previously: although the share of workers with medium-level qualification will remain dominant (about 70 per cent), roughly 11 per cent of the workers are expected to hold high-level qualifications in 2030, an increase of 4 per cent. Conversely, only 20 per cent of the workers are expected to hold low-level qualifications in 2030.
Metal machinery workers are found across a range of sectors, but work predominantly in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade. The industrial structure of employment and the importance of these sectors as employers of metal & machinery workers are forecast to remain unchanged by 2030.
More information on employment trends for this occupation can be found here.
Which drivers of change will affect their skills?
The decline in employment levels of metal, machinery and related trades workers can be attributed to a range of inter-related factors that will continue to affect employment developments and skill needs:
- the fall in employment in the manufacturing sector more broadly [4], where many metal machinery and related trades workers are concentrated;
- globalisation of trade and business networks, which has seen many manufacturing jobs transferred out of Europe. Jobs which entail more routine and less abstract service tasks, such as those within this occupational group, have been found to be offshored most often[5];
- technological change has seen machinery / robots carrying out many of the roles previously filled by skilled manual workers[6]. This has also led to changes in the materials and methods being used on the job. However, many workers in this occupational group will still be required to set up, monitor, and maintain automated systems [7]. These workers will need to have sufficient digital skills [8], which will need to be continuously updated in line with technological advancements [9]. Technological change affects production processes as well as maintenance issues. While there is an increasing degree of automation involved in the production process, the skills required by those working in monitoring and maintaining systems, and in diagnosing and repairing faults, will also increase as more technologies are embedded into a variety of products and the production process itself. For example, technical change is seen as potentially affecting the role of maintenance fitters (see box).
“New types of maintenance fitting jobs are likely to be created in the future, following the growing automation of the production process. Technologies such as 3D printing and silicon technology are also likely to result in more complex machines being employed, which in turn will require regular maintenance and monitoring, thus boosting employment in certain areas despite the overall number of maintenance fitter jobs falling. In the future, the role of maintenance fitters is expected to become more service-focused, as manufacturers outsource more complex machine calibration and system setting to specialist machine maintenance companies. This will result in maintenance fitters requiring greater skills in customer service, relationship management and a broader understanding of the application of manufacturing equipment”.
Source: UK CES (2015) Sector insights: skills and performance challenges in the advanced manufacturing sector. Evidence Report No.93 [10]
- Digitisation of machinery processes and tools already reshape construction as well. Metal, machinery and related workers employed in construction will also see changes in their tasks and/or the skills needed to perform these tasks. For example, “smart” sensors will be used in machinery in construction sites. These sensors will be able to detect and communicate maintenance requirements or alerts on upcoming issues [11]. Workers in this occupation will, therefore, need the skills to interpret the sensors’ data and overall be well-adjusted to the internet of things side of construction.
- Risk of automation: As a part of its Digitalisation and future of work project, Cedefop estimates the risks of automation for occupations. The most exposed occupations are those with significant share of tasks that can be automated – operation of specialised technical equipment, routine or non-autonomous tasks – and those with a small reliance on communication, collaboration, critical thinking and customer-serving skills. The risk of automation is further accentuated in occupations where employees report little access to professional training that could help them to cope with labour market changes. Metal and machinery workers are reportedly an occupation with high risk of automation.
Those attempting to meet skills needs in this occupational group face the problem that many young people choose not to train and become skilled metal machinery trades workers, despite having the level of educational attainment required do so. Rather than enter the vocational pathway through upper secondary school by, for instance, working towards completion of an apprenticeship, many prefer to stay in the general educational pathway that gives a more direct entry to tertiary level education. [12] This has implications for meeting projected replacement demand. An ageing workforce, with substantial retirements on the horizon, has been cited as a major factor underlying ‘bottleneck vacancies’ or skill shortages in this occupation. Gender is also considered an important element affecting labour supply to the occupation, as the workforce is principally comprised of men [13].
How can these skill needs be met?
There are a number of ways in which the sector can respond to the skill challenges it will face in the future. Ensuring that the supply of training is sufficient to meet future demand, so to avoid skills mismatches occurring, is difficult to achieve in an occupation seen to be in long-running decline. This is despite the fact that replacement demand is likely to be high, which may result in many job openings in the future. The provision of labour market information has an important role to play in highlighting likely job openings, which will emerge over the medium-term, to young people, who are making the transition from school to work. Furthermore, if skills supply is to be improved, it would be important to attract more women in this occupation. Tailored labour market information could have again a key role to play in helping to develop a positive image of the occupation that is attractive across genders. To attract more young female workers, VET providers but also the labour market could re-think the occupation and the required equipment beyond gender restrictions and preconceptions.
Spawaczka - Welding girl
Many female welders face the challenge of the lack of equipment that fits them. Such an example of a female welder in Poland is narrated in a short film by Tomas Suski (in Polish).
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05gy398bMls]
3M responded to this problem by making welding helmets that fit women.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI3XYWl_i7w]
Source: Euroskills Facebook account, uploaded 25 April 2016
Apprenticeships have an important role to play in meeting the skill needs of the occupation. This means persuading more employers to provide apprenticeships and more young people to take them up. Given that the level of educational attainment for those working in the occupation has been increasing, it may well be that vocational education and training / apprenticeships at a higher level will be increasingly able to satisfy this demand. [14] Vocational education and training will also need to encompass a range of soft skills, given the increasing importance of customer-service skills in the occupation.
A further challenge involves ensuring existing workers’ skills are kept up to date, in order to avoid skills obsolescence, given the fact that such significant changes are taking place in terms of the skill needs of the occupation. Those already working in the occupation will need to have access to continuing vocational education through on-the-job training. [15]
References
All web-links were last accessed December 2nd, 2019.
[1] Defined as ISCO 08 groups 72 Metal machinery and related trade workers. ILO, (2012), International Standard Classification of Occupations ISCO-08.
[2] 2018 Cedefop skills forecast.
[3] The need to replace workers leaving a profession for various reasons, such as retirement. More information on replacement demand and how it drives employment across sectors can be found here.
[4] Cedefop, (2016), European sectoral trends the next decade, viewed 05 July 2016
[5] Goos, M., Manning, A. & Salomons, A., (2010), Explaining Job Polarization in Europe: The Roles of Technology, Globalization and Institutions. CEP Discussion Paper No 1026, viewed 05 July 2016
[6] Goos, M., Manning, A., & Salomons, A., (2009), Job polarization in Europe, American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings, 99(2), 58-63, viewed 10 July 2016 and Cedefop, (2015), Blog: Preparing for the Age of the Robots, viewed 14 July 2016
[7] Bureau of Labour Statistics, (2015), Machinists and tool and die makers, viewed 15 July 2016
[8] UKCES, (2015), Sector insights: skills and performance challenges in the advanced manufacturing sector, viewed 12 July 2016
[9] Council of European Employers of the Metal, Engineering and Technology-based Industries (CEEMET), (2016), Digitalisation and the world of work, viewed 18 July 2016
[10] UKCES, (2015), Sector insights: skills and performance challenges in the advanced manufacturing sector, viewed 12 July 2016
[11] McKinsey, (2016), Imagining construction’s digital future
[12]Bureau of Labour Statistics, (2015), Machinists and tool and die makers, viewed 15 July 2016
[13] European Commission, (2014), Mapping and analysing bottleneck vacancies in EU labour markets, viewed 10 July 2016
[14] DG Employment, (2016), Study on Higher Vocational Education and Training in the EU Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union
[15] Council of European Employers of the Metal, Engineering and Technology-based Industries (CEEMET), (2010), Strengthening Cooperation between Industry and Initial Vocational Education and Training.
Data insights details
Table of contents
Page 1
SummaryPage 2
Key factsPage 3
Tasks and skillsPage 4
What are the trends for the future? [2]Page 5
Which drivers of change will affect their skills?Page 6
How can these skill needs be met?Page 7
References