Ask the Toolmaker Now While He Still Knows Everything

Did you ever wonder how an animal qualifies for the Endangered Species List? It turns out that a species must meet specific criteria regarding its habitat, health, and hardships.  Its habitat must be threatened or shrinking, its health in decline, and its hardships nearly insurmountable. Sadly, these criteria can apply to many aspects of life outside of listing an animal or plant as threatened or endangered. For instance, we can apply the criteria to specific jobs, like the magical Tool & Die Maker.

Many people will be surprised to hear that the American Tool & Die profession is marginally endangered. Why? Well, let’s look at the criteria:

Habitat: As manufacturing moved overseas to cut costs, American Tool & Die Makers saw their work relocate to other countries. 

Health: As many businesses ultimately discovered, off-shore manufacturing did not hold their employees to the high level of professionalism America’s Tool & Die Makers had made commonplace. Tools arriving from overseas might be off by just a few thousandths, but that small margin was enough to scrap sufficient quantities of parts to increase financial losses. Who wants an eye scalpel that doesn’t meet tight FDA standards used on his eye? Businesses no longer trusted their sources. 

Hardships: Currently, there is a lack of Tool & Die Makers. As jobs moved off-shore, the lack of people looking for training and apprenticeships forced companies to cut back on offering these opportunities.  This turned into a vicious cycle—low opportunity led to low interest that led to fewer opportunities that led to even less interest. Factor in our nation’s obvious prejudice against trade schools and manual labor, and it is no wonder young men and women spurn the trades. Now, America is at the critical point where Tool & Die Makers are in demand, and there are not enough toolmakers to fill needed positions. 

As costs rise due to the demands on Tool & Die Makers spread among fewer and fewer of the profession, the pain is felt in every wallet in our country. Tool & Die Makers make the world function, and we need more of them to keep our phones ringing, cars running, and candy calling. 

From this vantage point, the future looks bleak. Young men and women today want to make a career by vlogging on YouTube or designing video games. What happens to those careers when the Tool & Die Maker is not producing the tools to make the hardware for their computers? 

Thankfully, these jobs are slowly coming back to the USA as foreign manufacturers cannot meet required standards. Our task, now, is to recruit more men and women into the Tool & Die profession to meet increasing demand. Once we re-establish our habitat, better our health, and decrease our hardships, this essential and critical profession will blossom.