Indianapolis — A survey by the American Mold Builders Association said wages and expected new hiring in the mold manufacturing industry have dipped slightly, but demand remains high — while an aging workforce continues to be a major challenge.
AMBA’s 2019-20 wage and salary report noted that salaries dropped an average of 2 percent compared to the 2018-19 report.
When it comes to hiring expectations, 64 percent of shops said they expect a need to fill roles, down from 75 percent of shops in the previous survey, the Indianapolis-based group said. The categories of shops “not sure” they will hire grew from 15 percent to 24 percent — numbers that AMBA said “indicates rising uncertainty in the hiring forecast.”
The biggest need for future employees is for people to fill technical positions, with 76 percent of openings expected to be for those jobs.
Administrative jobs will make up just 13 percent of new hiring in 2020 and leadership jobs are at 11 percent.
While the average age of mold shop workers has dropped slightly, with 61 percent of the workforce under the age of 50, that is still a “significantly lower percentage” than the 70 percent of workers younger than 50 in 2006. And currently, 77 percent of workers are over the age of 30.
“For this reason, initiatives to attract youth into the mold building sector continue to remain a top priority in 2020,” AMBA said in a Jan. 6 news release.
AMBA surveyed more than 100 molding operations in the United States. Just a little less than half the respondents were from companies with sales of less than $5 million. Companies from two other size categories each accounted for 25 percent — from $5 million to $10 million and more than $10 million.
The job classifications in the report represent 7,343 U.S. hourly and salaried employees in the mold building industry.
The report is available at the AMBA website, priced at $129 for members and $229 for nonmembers.