BOSTON:The New England Council, which calls itself the oldest regional business organization in the country, released a new report on the prospects for "Advanced Manufacturing"in the six-state region.
According to the report: "For centuries, the manufacturing industry has been a primary employer in New England. Despite a decline in recent decades, the industry has showed remarkable longevity even without the likelihood that it will return to its former prominence. On the other hand, advanced manufacturing has evolved, becoming a vibrant and growing sector. Key sub-sectors that are particularly distinctive in New England include signal processing, optics, aerospace, medical devices, sophisticated electronic assemblies and advanced materials."
Despite this apparent good news, the NEC says that the private and public sectors as well as the media are focusing too much on job loss and not enough on "the vast potential within the advanced manufacturing arena.
The report asserts that educators, school counselors and parents have steered their children away from careers in manufacturing, because of a mistaken belief that manufacturing "is dark, dirty, dangerous or declining.
The report also says that more than 400,000 jobs ?two-thirds of all manufacturing jobs in the region ?are now in advanced manufacturing, producing "everything from medical devices to nanotechnology devices."Job growth in advanced manufacturing was increasing at an annual rate of two percent before the recession. Moreover, as many as 4,000 advanced-manufacturing jobs were unfilled because of an inadequate or disinterested workforce.
The report's authors assert that the region can add up to 8,000 plus jobs per year in advanced manufacturing with an average annual salary of $80,000. For more information, visit newenglandcouncil.com.
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