Virginia Careers

(Careers in Virginia – available 1st Quarter 2008) Operator Production Operator Production Technician Technician Chemical Equipment Operato Chemical Operator Fixers CNC Technician Manufacturing Technician Production Manufacturing Specialist

Over the next three years, 2007-2010, Virginia is expected to experience the largest number of Manufacturing Technician openings due to retirements. According to projections, all primary skilled occupations, which include Manufacturing Technician, will have a cumulative gap as high as 70,506 during this 3 year timeframe. The Manufacturing Technician positions alone account for 22,606 of the gap. This shortage of skilled manufacturing technicians could have a critical effect on Virginia's economic future unless we act now.

The Virginia Council on Advanced Technology Skills is here to help meet Virginia's present and future needs for skilled technical workers–the men and women who operate precision equipment, systems, and processes–in three ways:

• By developing the training and certification programs to create a workforce capable of meeting the cutting-edge requirements of existing and emerging employers.
  
• By educating current and prospective employees on the lucrative benefits of such sophisticated, upscale manufacturing careers as production specialists, production technicians, chemical equipment operators, and production manufacturing specialists.
  
• And by developing a labor-exchange resource that makes job placement easier for both employers and employees.
  Funded in part by the U.S. Department of Labor, VCATS' Virginia Bio/Advanced Manufacturing Technical Skills Project is co-led by the Virginia Biotechnology Association, the Virginia Manufacturers Association, and Training & Development Corporation, a national, non-profit organization–along with private-sector partners including Alcoa, Micron Technology and Philip Morris USA.

The Technical Skills Project is designed to:

• Develop a competency-based training program designed by ten major employers in science- and technology-intensive advanced manufacturing.
  
• Obtain employer validation for the effectiveness of this pilot training program.
  
• Encourage widespread adoption of the training program design at learning labs throughout Virginia; seek support from the state legislature to fund those lab sites; and convince technical high schools and community colleges to adopt the program's design.
  
• Establish a statewide system of competency-based and employer-validated skill standards for three levels of technical certification in advanced manufacturing. (Employees who complete the pilot lab program will qualify for Level 1 Manufacturing Technician certification.)
  
• Create a unique labor exchange that makes it more efficient for the certified workers and employers to arrange mutually beneficial fits.
  
• Conduct a public relations program to increase awareness of the exceptional opportunities available for highly valued and rewarding careers in advanced manufacturing–and to guide prospects to additional information on the Web, in career centers and at community colleges.
• Establish a statewide system of competency-based and employer-validated skill standards for three levels of technical certification in advanced manufacturing. (Employees who complete the pilot lab program will qualify for Level 1 Manufacturing Technician certification.)
• Create a unique labor exchange that makes it more efficient for the certified workers and employers to arrange mutually beneficial fits.
• Conduct a public relations program to increase awareness of the exceptional opportunities available for highly valued and rewarding careers in advanced manufacturing–and to guide prospects to additional information on the Web, in career centers and at community colleges.

Employers looking for highly skilled manufacturing technicians . . . workers in search of rewarding careers . . . a state strengthened by the economic balance and stability of the high-tech sector: VCATS' Virginia Bio/Advanced Manufacturing Technical Skills Project offers the promise of significant benefits for all these sectors.

And we'd welcome your support and interest in this important initiative. Whether you're an employer, a current or prospective technician, or an involved Virginian, to find out more about what VCATS is doing to give the future of high-tech a hand, visit us on the Web at www.vacats.org.

Select By Job Title
Operator, Production Operator, Production Technician, Technician, Chemical Equipment Operator, Chemical Operator, Fixers, CNC Technician Manufacturing Technician and Production Manufacturing Specialist.

Manufacturing Technician
Operate precision machinery, systems and processes. Typical skills expected in these positions Might include: CAD skills, computer controlled machine programming, precision measurement, process and machine trouble-shooting, problem-solving, machine maintenance, use diagnostic and statistical tools.