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20 C O O L S T U F F 2 0 2 2 • A Guide to Career Opportunities in Central Mass. W E P R O V I D E W O R K F O R C E S O L U T I O N S W I T H I N T H E A R E A S O F E N G I N E E R I N G , I T , A D V A N C E D M A N U F A C T U R I N G A N D FIND A JOB OR FIND TOP TALENT W E P R O V I D E W O R K F O R C E S O L U T I O N S W I T H I N T H E A R E A S O F E N G I N E E R I N G , I T , A D V A N C E D M A N U F A C T U R I N G A N D P R O F E S S I O N A L F O R C O N T R A C T , C O N T R A C T T O H I R E A N D D I R E C T H I R E J O B S . W W W . D A V I S C O S . C O M VIEW OPEN JOBS: W E P R O V I D E W O R K F O R C E S O L U T I O N S W I T H I N T H E A R E A S O F E N G I N E E R I N G , I T , A D V A N C E D M A N U F A C T U R I N G A N D P R O F E S S I O N A L F O R C O N T R A C T , C O N T R A C T T O H I R E A N D D I R E C T H I R E J O B S . W W W . D A V I S C O S . C O M VIEW OPEN JOBS: W E P R O V I D E W O R K F O R C E S O L U T I O N S W I T H I N T H E A R E A S O F E N G I N E E R I N G , I T , A D V A N C E D M A N U F A C T U R I N G A N D P R O F E S S I O N A L F O R C O N T R A C T , C O N T R A C T T O H I R E A N D D I R E C T H I R E J O B S . FIND A JOB OR FIND TOP TALENT about three years. "If you're working as an engineer, the next thing you know you can be a senior engineer and explore other fields in the manufacturing industry." A day in the life Vyas, who holds a master's degree in environmental engineering, quickly rose in the ranks to a safety compliance coordina- tor, a job where each day looks different. Her daily tasks can include audit inspec- tions, safety training for other employees, incident reporting, observing, and creating safety plans. As a whole, manufacturing has a slightly older workforce, which could create an increasingly problematic workforce short- age. About 25% of manufacturers are Baby Boomers who will soon retire, and the industry is at risk of having more than 8 million unfilled jobs by 2030, according to a 2021 study by business consultant Deloitte. For production jobs, the work can be very physically demanding, and shifts can be long, Brady, Romanow, and Barnes all said. Both FLEXcon and Hologic operate 24/7, so employees have to be there around the clock. At FLEXcon, shifts are typically 12 hours long from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and then 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Employees there work either Monday through Thursday or Friday through Sunday, Barnes said. The average salary for a manufacturing job in Massachusetts is $52,646, or $26.90 an hour, with entry-level jobs starting around $36,500, according to the online job board Talent.com. "It is a physical process and involves long hours, but the beauty of it is, we're just making beer," Romanow said. "At the end of the day, everyone gets to sit down and have a shift beer or two, and it's the same beer that they've been making all day." n FLEXcon makes adhesives at its Spencer facility. "It is a physical process and involves long hours, but the beauty of it is, we're just making beer." - Adam Romanow, co-founder of Castle Island Brewing Co. M A N U F A C T U R I N G PHOTO | COURTESY OF FLEXCON