GM plant director: How to encourage skilled trade careers across the community

Anton Busuttil, General Motors
3 min read
1

Every day skilled trades workers are turning blueprints into buildings, creating structures from scratch, keeping our lights on and water running, and building the hospitals and schools that keep us healthy and support our children.

I see this firsthand as the vehicle plant director at GM Spring Hill, where team members are doing incredible work building world-class products like the all-electric Cadillac LYRIQ. It is fascinating and satisfying work that is essential to many industries and everyday lives.

So, then, why are skilled trades often overlooked as a successful career path? And why is there a labor shortage for workers with these skills in Tennessee and across the country? It’s not due to a lack of interest. According to recent research by Thumbtack, 47% of adults, aged 18 – 30, are interested in pursuing a career in the trades.

Cultural stigmas around skilled trades and expectations to follow the traditional route of a four-year college degree program certainly contribute to the problem. However, the most significant issue I see is the lack of understanding that prospective workers have of what skilled trades careers truly are and the benefits they present, coupled with a lack of exposure and access to the pathways needed to turn interest into an actionable career plan.

The job benefits are multiplied because of the high demand. Skilled trades workers are seeing increased job security, stability, flexibility, and more competitive salaries. This, along with faster entry into the workforce and lower cost of education, can set people up with a long, prosperous career.

In celebration of May 1, known as National Skilled Trades Day, I want to recognize both the opportunity and responsibility we have as a community to reimagine how we bring attention to these careers and how we can invest in providing accessible pathways to those eager to enter the trades.

We can start by exposing students early on to tools and projects to help build skills. The same Thumbtack story reported that nearly 32% of respondents weren’t offered shop classes in high school; however, 86% of people who did take shop say it was one of their favorite classes. We should capture this interest and relish the classes and programs that let students build and create and encourage them to share what they’ve built with their families and with their community.

Lastly, we must expand the value we place on internships in corporate settings to the value of apprenticeships and the real-world experience they offer. Trades apprenticeships provide paid on-the-job training and experience working directly with tradespeople and highly technical equipment and new technologies to prepare workers for what they will face in future careers.

To open the door for those seeking apprenticeships, we offer the GM-UAW Skilled Trades Apprenticeship Readiness Certificate (STARC) program. This online program provides the foundational skills, such as blueprint reading and industrial processes, needed to succeed in both our apprenticeship program and apprenticeship opportunities across the country.

We are also helping to launch individuals into higher skills and higher wage opportunities, through a partnership with Columbia State Community College. Last year, GM announced a $40,000 grant for CSCC, to support a workforce development study and to identify and share best practices for advanced manufacturing credentials at colleges nationwide.

The demand for trade jobs is not going away. In 2023 alone, there were more than 770,000 skilled trades posted from nearly 95,000 different employers across the country. Currently, General Motors has hundreds of openings nationwide, including some right here at Spring Hill Manufacturing.

I likely wouldn’t even be at Spring Hill Manufacturing if it hadn’t been for an irreplaceable skilled trades worker in my life: my late father. He worked for years in the trades, earned a good living, and provided a good life for our family. He inspired and influenced the career path that led me to the position I hold today, where we are literally building the future of transportation.

Our world will always want to build and bring new technology and ideas to life, and we will need skilled trades workers to make it happen.

Anton Busuttil, GM plant director Spring Hill
Anton Busuttil, GM plant director Spring Hill

Anton Busuttil is plant director of General Motors Spring Hill.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: How to encourage skilled trade careers across the community

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