If they only get some machinist skills at best, then they are effectively unemployable. So rather than getting a job, they should start taking classes at the local community college. Then, once they have become nurses, care-takers, welders, electricians, etc, etc they won't have such a big problem finding jobs.
Nurses, care-takers: Unemployment rate = 5.9%, with 1.2 million (already trained) people unemployed
Welders, electricians: That would be either the construction sector (Unemployment rate 13.6%) or the manufacturing sector (Unemployment rate 9.2%).
Re-training will help some people, but isn't immediate and will never help the majority.
There seems to be a weird view that manufacturing in the US will be dead in the future because it is struggling now. It's probably worth noting that rich, first world countries like Germany have huge manufacturing sectors, employing large number of people, and yet have to compete directly with countries with low wages. It isn't clear at all why some people believe the US is fated to lose its manufacturing sector but Germany isn't.
