Sparrows Point Steel emergence comes amid manufacturing hiring challenges

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The announcement of a new steel fabrication facility coming to Sparrows Point to create parts for a wind farm off the coast of Maryland comes amid a time of turbulence and change for Maryland’s manufacturing industry.  

Advocates continue to push for the industry to grow its presence in the state; at the same time, there is already a swath of unfilled manufacturing positions in Maryland and beyond. A recent study found there are about half a million manufacturing unfilled job openings in the United States, 80% of which are for unskilled entry or midlevel positions that require only a high school diploma. 

In Maryland, 107,700 employees work in manufacturing. That number has dropped significantly over the years, dipping from around 204,000 in the 1990s to as low as 105,200 in 2014 before beginning to rise slightly leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. 

Sparrows Point Steel is planning to hire upwards of 500 workers.  

US Wind, the company behind the project, is hopeful it can stand out from the crowd as it seeks to hire workers in the coming years (the facility is planned to be at least partially running by 2024).  

Through a partnership with United Steelworkers, a union for skilled trade workers, the offshore wind company seeks to attract more employees than its competitors, thanks to the competitive pay and other benefits it plans to offer, according to US Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski.  

The exact salary the Sparrows Point Steel workers will receive is not yet known, as the hiring process is not set to begin for several years. All workers inside the facility, except management, will be part of United Steelworkers. 

The union, which has been working towards the Sparrows Point Steel project with US Wind for several years, also plans to help train workers at the facility, which will help address the lack of workers with highly specialized skills, such as knowledge of how to use modern fabrication and manufacturing machinery.  

Jim Strong, assistant to the director of United Steelworkers and one of two labor representatives on the Maryland Manufacturing Advisory Board, said these skilled roles are the ones he often sees manufacturers in Maryland struggling to fill. 

“I’m not going to say that we won’t have challenges with this project … the good thing is, we have a couple of years to start working on addressing this issue,” he said.  

US Wind also hopes to work with community organizations to make sure people in the local Baltimore and Baltimore County area, especially people of color, are aware of the job opportunities when they open up, Grybowski noted. 

“Given our location in Baltimore County, close to communities like Dundalk and metro Baltimore, (that) is going to be important to us,” he said. 

But why continue to push for manufacturing in Maryland if workers are hard to come by? According to Mike Galiazzo, president of the Regional Manufacturing Institute of Maryland, it’s because the industry offers high advantages to both the state’s economy and to employees, who can earn high wages in manufacturing positions.  

Manufacturing initially began losing workers in the 1970s and 1980s, after a wave of companies chose to move operations overseas, creating the impression that the manufacturing industry in the United States was “dead,” Galiazzo said. 

“The impact of that movement is what we are dealing with today in this country,” he said. 

But, he added, manufacturing could become more attractive to young workers as its image shifts to reflect some of the products — like parts necessary for creating clean energy, as in the case of the US Wind facility — that United States-based manufacturers and fabricators create. 

“The image of manufacturing is getting more positive, and I think image will ultimately attract people back to our world of work … we’re producing goods that are good for the world. We’re producing vaccines … we’re producing all the PPE that people needed,” Galiazzo said. 

Grybowski and Strong both agreed that certain industries, like the wind sector, are trending towards sourcing more domestically, which could continue to increase the volume of manufacturing jobs available in the states.  

In fact, Sparrows Point Steel could even lead to the development of other fabrication or manufacturing facilities in the area, which Strong characterized as an ideal spot for manufacturers due to its proximity to the Port of Baltimore, one of only a few deep-water ports in the country. 

“This is opening up a lot of great opportunities to bring a lot of good-paying union jobs,” he said.