COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service is collaborating with Time Wise Management Systems to fill a need for welders, CNC machine operators and assembly workers for Texas manufacturers through Mobile Outreach Skills Training (M.O.S.T.?).

The M.O.S.T.? program is a fast-track, intensive skills training, assessment, recruitment and placement program aimed at preparing unemployed and underemployed individuals and returning veterans for front-line production jobs. The program is customized to the needs of the participating employer, the local area and the job candidates, and training is accomplished on-site through a state-of-the-art mobile training unit.

“Data shows that nearly half of future manufacturing job openings will be in middle skill occupations that don’t require a college education,” said Roger Caldwell, Program Manager with TEEX Knowledge Engineering. “The individuals selected for the program will have the opportunity to learn a skill and enter the workforce at a higher-paying salary. American manufacturing needs skilled welders and machine operators to keep and bring manufacturing back to the U.S.”

The intensive two-week basic manufacturing skills training covers topics such as 3-D simulations, shop math, blueprint reading and customized training on programmable manufacturing machines, welding simulators and CNC (computer numerical control) operations. After successfully completing the basic skills training, the employee has eight weeks of on-the-job training. This is followed by four months of career mentoring and retention accomplished through a cross-training program and career guidance.

Time Wise Management Systems reports that the average annual manufacturing wage is $41,000 and 82% of manufacturing workers have access to health benefits. Since the M.O.S.T. program began in Florida in 2008, it has achieved a completion rate of 94%, a placement rate of 96% and a 90-day retention rate of 91%.

The program not only recruits candidates that meet company requirements, it also provides the training, and successful trainees are guaranteed a job with the company, Caldwell said. The goal of the program is to achieve a 91% retention rate of newly trained employees after three months, compared to a typical 30% to 50% turnover in many of these jobs, he added.

Companies pay for the program and hiring commitments are secured up-front. The training is provided at no cost to candidates selected, and they do not earn a salary during the first two or three weeks of curriculum-based training.

A whistle stop tour of four cities in Texas earlier this month introduced the program to companies and manufacturers in Houston, College Station and Killeen and Alvarado. A steel fabrication plant in Houston is contracting with M.O.S.T. to provide workers for their company.

To learn more, call 800-541-7149 toll-free.

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