If you so much as dabble in hydraulics, read on because I think you’ll find what follows interesting. And for some, it’s potentially life-changing.

The information I’m about to reveal comes from a document prepared by the Fluid Power Education Foundation (FPEF) and the International Fluid Power Society (IFPS).

It explains their Fluid Power Education Initiative. And the preamble makes for fascinating reading:

“The challenge to find qualified, well-prepared men and women to fill [hydraulics industry] positions is at crisis level.” (bolding mine)

“The opportunities for engineers, technicians, mechanics, sales and marketing personnel, and management are endless:

• According to a recent Deloitte report, approximately 600,000 advanced manufacturing jobs are going unfilled in the U.S.
• The bureau of labor statistics indicates that the number of Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) occupations will increase by 22% through 2014.
• The number of STEM jobs is second only to health care in the U.S.”

After outlining the opportunity, the FPEF/IFPS then define the problem this way:

“The problem is, fluid power is a well-kept secret to many as a career opportunity and largely ignored in the education system.”

The above statement is backed-up with further statistics, which for brevity, I won’t cite here. And compounding the problem, is the fact that those of us already in the industry are nearing our ‘use-by’ date:

“To add to the crisis, the current workforce is rapidly maturing. A recent survey conducted by the International Fluid Power Society (IFPS) shows that over 63% of its members are over the age of 45 and 30% are over 55.”

“Without a solid pipeline of experienced, certified professionals, the attrition levels will rapidly outpace the supply of new qualified workers to fill the void.”

The FPEF/IFPS document uses the word ‘crisis’ no less than 3 times. The Chinese word for crisis is comprised of two characters. One means danger. The other means opportunity.

‘Crisis’ in Chinese: danger and opportunity

And since this crisis is not confined to the U.S., it means the OPPORTUNITY is universal.

To pursue hydraulics as a specialization that is.

Wherever you are.

You may be aware I was unemployed, broke and circling the drain when I stumbled into the hydraulics biz. For me, it was a happy accident. And I’ve never looked back.

The point being, YOU can be intentional about this. If you’ve dabbled in hydraulics or have any kind of interest in it, now is a great time to get serious and jump in with both feet.

The thing is, it’s never really too late to start.

But you gotta start.

So if you DO want to be a player, take some sort of action today.

Join the Fluid Power Society. Or join Hydraulics Pro Club. Get a book. Take a course. Mine or somebody elses. Hydraulics is a big church. And it doesn’t really matter to me whether you’re a member of my parish or not.

The main thing is you jump on this wave now, and ride it for all it’s worth. He who dares wins. And if you’re wondering where to start, get “Six Costly Mistakes Most Hydraulics Users Make… And How You Can Avoid Them!” available for FREE download here.