Vocational tech grads buck the jobs trend

By Elaine Quijano. October 12, 2011. (CBS News)  ALLENTOWN, Pa. - "I don't really like the second shift," Nick Senniti, 20, says. "But you've got to start somewhere."
Despite the worst job market in decades, Senniti had three job offers right out of high school.

CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano reports Senniti graduated in 2009 as a certified welder from a Career and Technical Education high school -- or what used to be called vocational education. He now works for Air Products in Allentown, Pa.

John McGlade, president and CEO of Air Products, says 4,000 of his 7,500 U.S. employees are skilled workers. His global company designs and builds high-tech hydrogen equipment and devices.

McGlade is "worried" he won't be able to find skilled workers in the future. He hires about 550 U.S. workers a year. Three-hundred-and-sixty are technically skilled positions that require two years of college or advanced certification. These positions can often go unfilled for 12 months.

"You need people who are electronics experts, instrument technicians, mechanics," McGlade said. Learn more...