near retirement age, and with fewer young people entering the trade the result is a shortage of skilled workers to run the machines that run our lives. >> there's a huge demand for machinists both in manufacturing and in the industrial maintenance side which is repairing equipment, either pumps or valves, refineries, water companies, wastewater companies. >> reporter: the list goes on and on which is why machinist schools like this one at laney college in oakland are booming. >> i'm hoping to obtain a good-paying job. >> reporter: that is a virtual guarantee because from refineries to manufacturing plants companies are highering with starting pay as high as $30 an hour. but emerging workforce also face as tremendous challenge, keeping the nation's manufacturing industry competitive. >> if we fill the gap, we keep jobs here, we compete with the rest of the world and maintain, you know, a good level of manufacturing here in the u.s.. >> reporter: a study done by