Today’s manufacturing workplace is far from the “dark, dirty, dangerous and dull” environment of previous generations, but industry leaders need to adapt their processes to the interests and work styles of a new, technology-focused workforce, manufacturing thought leader and content creator Jake Hall said in his morning keynote address at the Corridor Business Journal’s sixth […]
Today’s manufacturing workplace is far from the “dark, dirty, dangerous and dull” environment of previous generations, but industry leaders need to adapt their processes to the interests and work styles of a new, technology-focused workforce, manufacturing thought leader and content creator Jake Hall said in his morning keynote address at the Corridor Business Journal’s sixth annual
Manufacturing Conference Sept. 30 at The Hotel at Kirkwood Conference Center.
The manufacturing industry remains the backbone of the U.S. economy, said Mr. Hall, well-known in social media as the
“Manufacturing Millennial,” with millions of views on his
LinkedIn posts.
Manufacturing employs about 12.7 million people in the United States, 8% of the nation’s overall workforce, and produces 12.7% of the country’s gross domestic product, Mr. Hall noted. However, the “Great Resignation” is hitting the manufacturing industry hard, as people leaving the industry aren’t simply moving to another industry, but retiring altogether. There are about 750,000 open manufacturing jobs in the U.S. as of August, Mr. Hall said, and that number of unfilled positions is expected to grow to 2.4 million by 2030.
“When we look at those numbers, we’re going to have over a trillion dollars in lost opportunity each year,” Mr. Hall said. “Those jobs go unfilled in the manufacturing industry because of the massive labor shortage that we’re facing.”
The manufacturing industry can help attract and retain a new generation of workers, Mr. Hall said, by embracing technological advancements and workforce innovations that can make their workplaces more appealing for the emerging technology-adept workforce.
Mr. Hall also offered tactics to facilitate that new approach, including communicating your company’s overall purpose, adapting processes to employees’ work styles and investing in their futures.
He noted that less than 2% of millennials and Generation Z workers who take a manufacturing job stay in the industry after six months.
“Why would I want to go and work for an industry that is 25 to 30 years old, that's forcing me to use processes and no technology available that I'm comfortable with every day?” he asked, noting that incorporation of technology will increase employee engagement and “keep the younger generation interested in what you're doing. So what are we doing to communicate purpose to them? To make them more excited about our industry?”
Mr. Hall also reviewed various automation techniques that engage, rather than alienate, today’s tech-savvy workers who want to make a difference, rather than simply engaging in repetitive and unnecessarily strenuous tasks.
“How is automation empowering their future?” he asked.
This article will be updated.
