…but it seems all they can get are bachelor’s degree recipients who either don’t have the right skills or think manufacturing jobs are beneath them. According to a fascinating article by Jillian Kay Melchior over at National Review Online, too many young people are going to college and acquiring few useful skills, while they could be working in lucrative manufacturing jobs.

Melchior quotes Linda Rigano, spokesperson for ThomasNet, a company that connects suppliers and producers, saying that manufacturing companies “are paying six figures. You’ve got all these kids who are coming out of college, and they can’t find a job. It’s heartbreaking.”

Here are a few telling statistics:

“Michigan State University … found that the labor market for new college graduates grew only 3 percent last year — but demand for graduates with associate’s degrees is up 31 percent. Nevertheless, in the last year on record, the U.S. handed out around 2.5 million bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees — and a mere 849,000 associate’s degrees….”