"’Help Wanted’ highlights skills drain in U.S” and we produce to many Ph.D.s

But the factory's overcapacity is the result not of a shortage of business -- it has more orders than it can fill, despite a slowing U.S. economy -- but because of a shortage of skilled workers.

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While millions of jobs making everything from textiles to steel have moved to new powerhouses like China in recent years, precision manufacturing remains a crucial niche in the United States, one that is overworked and chronically understaffed.

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Some 20 percent of small to medium-sized manufacturers -- those with up to 2,000 workers -- cited retaining or training employees as their No. 1 concern, according to a survey by the National Association of Manufacturers. The survey was carried out in 2007 but has not been published yet.

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Nationally, one in four businesses say they have a vacancy they cannot fill, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business, which groups both manufacturing and non-manufacturing businesses.