GE Careers Blog.

Women are an untapped resource for U.S. manufacturing industry according to report from the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte. The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte surveyed more than 600 females in the manufacturing industry whose work spans functional roles and levels. The report not only reveals women’s perceptions about their work in manufacturing but also outlines strategies for recruiting, retaining, and advancing women in this field. Of the survey participants, 75 percent claimed that a manufacturing career is interesting and rewarding. The survey revealed the top two reasons these women stay in their profession is because of the compensation and opportunities for challenging assignments. However, only 20 percent of participants believe manufacturing “does a good job of presenting itself to women candidates.”

The New Policy Institute’s John Grant argues the importance of advanced manufacturing for job creation: “The manufacturing sector is growing across the country. As noted here , a range of metro areas – from Texas to Washington state to Michigan to Virginia – have created hundreds of thousands of jobs since 2010 by focusing on manufacturing. As a nation, we need to build things. It’s in our DNA as Americans. We may not build the same things as our grandparents or produce them in the same way, but we will continue to build. The emerging importance of advanced manufacturing for job creation – and the economy at large – is too important for policymakers to ignore. And it can get a jumpstart from smart policy from Washington to City Hall.”

General Electric Aviation plans to pour $27 million into its Newark facility over the next 5 years to expand production of engine parts made from ceramic matrix composites (CMC). CMC parts are in demand for the next generation of aircraft engines because they strong, lightweight and highly heat resistant. The new jobs are expected to pay well. Wessels says a starting engineer’s salary is between $50,000 to 75,000 while the technician positions start at about $20 per hour.

Daniel Brewer is a 32 year-old naval veteran who recently completed the inaugural class of the Get Skills to Work program at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. He is now employed at GE Aviation. “Led by GE, along with partners such as Alcoa and Lockheed Martin, the new Get Skills to Work (GSTW) program convenes manufacturers and educators to prepare and place veterans in long-term careers in advanced manufacturing,” he said. “Thirty-five military veterans recently completed the GSTW training program. I was one of them.”

Dan Brewer joined GE Aviation after a five year stint in the United States Navy. In March he completed the Get Skills to Work training program in Cincinnati. Just in time for Memorial Day, the program added 190 new manufacturers, including many small and medium-sized businesses. The program’s goal is to train and match with jobs 100,000 veterans by 2015.