Manufacturing Workers Needed in the US?

This article in USNews really shocked me - a shortage of skilled manufacturing workers in the US of A ... my first reaction was, you gotta be kidding! But evidently it's true.

A recent study by Deloitte Consulting for the Manufacturing Institute of the National Association of Manufacturers found that over the next three years, 80 percent of U.S. manufacturing companies expect shortages of skilled production workers–people like machinists, craft workers, and technicians.

Wow, can you spell surprise? Don't drop of school just yet, though. Here's the kicker:

Unfortunately for displaced autoworkers and others in the rust belt, demand for certain types of skilled manufacturing workers doesn't necessarily offer a parachute....Many autoworkers come from the traditional mold, doing the same task, day in and day out. Today's factory is not your father's factory, and many of those repetitive jobs are getting shipped to low-cost countries. "The new manufacturing worker has to think, know math, interpret CAD/CAM drawings, be knowledgeable about more than one process, and be a good team problem solver," says Eisen.