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Toyota Recruits High School Grads to Offset Attrition Losses

Posted on: Sunday, 25 June 2006, 15:00 CDT

By Raviya H. Ismail, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.

Jun. 25--Amber Moore never considered a job in manufacturing, thinking the work would be physically demanding. But now the 18-year-old Bourbon County High School graduate has abandoned plans to work in child care and hopes to work for one of the biggest plants in Kentucky.

Moore was one of 17 students who participated this spring in a Toyota pilot program at the school aimed at recruiting high school graduates. She will learn this week whether she will be hired for a position at the plant.

"I just saw an opportunity I had ahead of me that could make my life better," said Moore, who could earn $13 an hour working on the production floor at Toyota. "I think it's a great opportunity for anyone. Anyone that could get the chance should really take it."

As Toyota marks its 20th anniversary in the Bluegrass this year, the company also is gearing up for its first wave of retirements in 2012. The Georgetown plant expects 1,700 workers, or 25 percent of its staff, to retire.

The company -- like other manufacturers facing an aging work force -- is working to groom a pool of applicants for those jobs by dispelling stereotypes among youths about factory work.

"What we're trying to do at an earlier age is maybe change the aspirations so that it's viewed as a good kind of work," said Mark Daugherty, a Toyota human resources manager. Many students initially "may have an image that it's dirty, it's not desirable kind of work, and in fact we not only have to change the mind-set of kids, but also parents and school counselors."

Manufacturing is "not the chisel and pounding the sledgehammer ... the way it was done years ago," he said. "It's a more technically thinking job than it used to be."

The Bourbon County and Paris Independent school districts participated in the pilot program. It trained a total of 22 high school students who were selected because they were interested in careers in manufacturing, science and math, information technology and communications.

This fall, the Fayette and Scott county districts are expected to join the program.

Problem solving at school

Students in the program met for two hours a week. They toured the Toyota building and the campuses of the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, which assisted with the program.

Toyota representatives also talked to students about employment opportunities with the company, including manufacturing and technology jobs.

In addition, students honed skills in leadership, teamwork and problem solving by finding solutions for real problems at school, including tardiness and disciplinary issues, said Brandi Compton, guidance counselor for Paris High School.

Students learned that working for Toyota "is more than just standing in a line and putting a tire on a car, and some of them didn't actually know that," Compton said.

The program aims to prepare students to compete for entry-level jobs on Toyota's production floor. After that, opportunities to move into other areas in the company could be available.

The program is "another opportunity for assisting our students in finding gainful employment if students decided not to pursue post-secondary education," said Paris Independent Superintendent Janice Cox Blackburn. Paris High School had five students who participated and two who are now candidates for employment.

"We like having this close partnership with businesses in the area because they can help us make sure our curriculum is giving the students what they need to take the next step, whether it's to college or Toyota or another business opportunity," said Bourbon County Superintendent Lana Fryman. Toyota plans to build on its success with the new pilot program and another program it developed with Scott County Schools.

Teaching teamwork

About six years ago, Toyota launched another academic program with Scott County Schools after the company realized that many of its applicants lacked the teamwork and problem-solving skills needed to land jobs at the plant. The Quest Program trains teachers and administrators in a method of teaching that promotes those skills.

Plans are under way to develop a curriculum with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System for high school seniors and graduates who want to go to college first, but eventually want to work for the company.

"The situation in Kentucky really isn't unique," said Daugherty. "Most states have the same decline of your working-age people. Every one of us is faced with the shrinking applicant flow and the quality of the applicant."

Reach Raviya H. Ismail at (859) 231-3342, 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3342, or rismail@herald-leader.com [mailto:rismail@herald-leader.com].

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.)

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