Yes some good discussion.
There is no doubt that companies are starting to look outside of themselves for expertise. These contract maintenance expertise companies will probably do very well out of the increase in demand and as demand grows they may grow and prosper and become very large.
I read someones "prophetic" vision recently where they foresaw the emergence of the superconsultantcy or massive maintenance contract companies spawned by demand and lack of skilled labour.
I wonder if this will actually happen or whether with the decline in population in the 1st world the demand just wont be there for skilled work to have to fill.
Certainly this wont be the same in the 3rd world where population and demand will outstrip everything.

This morning on our local radio station they had a segment on University vs trades qualifications and what people viewed as the better.
In the time I was listening many of the callers lauded the benefits of trades (highlighting the future demand and prosperity due to skill shortage) as the number one reason they would push there kids into trades as opposed to college/university educations. Also the fact here in NZ that most of our young graduates end up leaving for overseas both for better money and to avoid having to pay back govt. student grants which can be thousands of dollars.

Mike:

There is no decrease in population. Population is actually continuing to increase in first and third world countries. There was an attempt by a few organizations to make a statement about a decreasing population based upon a United Nations population study. However, the numbers that were used by these organizations were the worst case that included a massive fatal disease or world war. The median expectation included continued growth. In fact, in most of the countries that have a baby-boom generation, the baby-boom echo generation will be much larger and will enter the workforce starting in 2016.

The problem with the mega-consulting and service companies is quite simple: Where are they supposed to find the people that companies cannot find? The skilled trades shortage is going on everywhere, whether you are talking about a first or third world country. Service companies here in the USA and in Canada, as well as in Australia (and elsewhere), per a skilled trades report, are all having problems recruiting qualified personnel.

There are other problems as well. For instance, some of the larger automotive companies here in the USA (as well as other companies) have been buying out and laying off a large number of personnel. Partly they are under the impression that there is some magical outsource company that can take on all of the work. So they are deliberately emptying their pool of skilled workers without any transition. In one of the companies, I am the subject matter expert (maintenance practices consultant) for a joint UAW and management team that is trying to build the process best practices to improve worker effectiveness because we no longer have enough personnel for maintenance and PdM and we have to plan for the transitional workforce.

I am glad to hear that education and parents are beginning to recommend the skilled trades in NZ. They are starting to see the light in Canada and we are still fighting the problem here in the USA. In fact, there is still a heavy push for people to get business degrees when those with business and MBA's are a dime a dozen. In fact, what is really worrisome is that more and more of the schools here are promising faster MBA degrees with less information being covered (ie: asset maintenance, maintenance and reliability).

Howard

Gentlemen,

I see a lot of this skills shortage as a little bit hyped really. (Sorry to say it)

I have been speaking to people about this across a number of countries now and there are some interesting facts that emerge.

The UAE has a citizen population of around 200,000 and produce a GDP equivalent to Australia. (No, its not all from oil)

Kuwait is simlilar (Yes most of that is from oil, but how do they do it with a small population?)

And there are many more examples. Have a look at this post and let me know your thoughts.

It was published in ASSETS magazine in the UK for the Institute of Asset Management.

What Resource Crisis?

It is a bit of a paradigm challenge; I think we are all seeing the world based on how it is or how it used to be.

Not so much on where it is going in most of the world.

One of the real plusses of skilled trades is that ALL hands-on work has to be done locally, whereas ANY knowledge work can be done anywhere.
So there's a job security and employability element to this.

Hi ROn,

Not really.

As highlighted in the post above the work has to be done locally, but it doesn't have to be done with local resources.

My experience in the middle east is: everything is farmed out. The British, Irish & Scots do most of the skilled labor. When I was in Saudi you would basically automatically which nationality was functioning in which discipline from material handlers to ditch diggers to helpers.

Have a look at this,

Part of why I think that issues like this are overblown and are more important to consultants than they actually are to the companies involved. (Benchmarking anyone?)

I have always had the greatest of trust in the market economy that we all live in to find a solution. it may not be the one we want but it will be the one that we need.

John Ratzenberger, (Cheers / countless Pixar flicks) has a foundation called Nuts, Bolts and thingamajigs that is actively trying to get young people interested in the noble art of tinkering as he puts it.

I think that you Americans should have a little more faith in the altruistic nature of your society... this couldn't have happened anywhere else.

A radio interview on this site from the show America's Business with Mike hambrick.

http://www.fma-foundation.org/index.cfm

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Daryl Mather,

Mike and All,

Let me share my thoughts on this, if there is one biggest mistake an industry can make and won't realize is because it has very shallow plans for its own training program. One of the reasons for it's existence is to conduct a needs assessment and plan for contingencies when an experience person retires but the irony about it is this department (here in my country and for the industries I have gone through) are mostly the subject of cost reduction efforts.

Kindly read my open letter to all industries

http://www.rsareliability.com/services.htm

My Warm Regards,