The manufacturing industry has been facing a number of significant challenges in recent years, including a pervasive skills gap. More experienced workers have been retiring and leaving the manufacturing sector, and younger workers have been slow to take an interest in the industry. This situation has made it harder for manufacturers to find workers with the right skills and to effectively train new workers.
Though this issue won’t be solved overnight, there are steps manufacturers can take to mitigate the skills gap. Bridging the skills gap will require investment and commitment from the whole industry. Luckily, people are recognizing this and putting effort into fixing it, including educational institutions, the government, and manufacturing organizations. Collaboration among these groups will help the manufacturing industry begin to close the skills gap.
The Skills Gap Explained
“A significant portion of the manufacturing industry is at or nearing retirement age and there is not a ready workforce to replace them, or to replace all the knowledge they’re taking with them. This is causing the industry’s skills gap,” explains Meaghan Widenhouse, Director of Commercial Education at Phillips Corporation.
Widenhouse describes several different issues being exacerbated by the manufacturing skills gap, including increasing operations costs and production delays. “The lack of readily available skilled workers requires manufacturers to invest more time and resources into training, which slows down overall productivity,” says Widenhouse. “To meet demand, manufacturers are having to rely on employee overtime or hiring expensive contract labor. Aside from the rising costs, this is also causing burnout for highly skilled existing employees.”
These problems are compounding, with burnt out employees leaving the industry and contributing to the skills gap and overall manufacturing workforce shortage, which has made it more difficult for manufacturers to find workers in general. Both these shortages have forced manufacturers to adapt to maintain growth and remain competitive.
“Manufacturers are having to adjust recruitment, hiring, and training practices to attract and retain skilled workers. Unfortunately, this takes time and can negatively impact production, but it’s becoming a requirement. Industrial companies struggling with a skills gap will find it difficult to compete on a global scale,” Widenhouse adds.
The industry must focus on increasing recruitment and closing the skills gap to successfully usher in the next generation of manufacturers and machinists. Improving internal initiatives and leveraging external training and education solutions will be key to mitigating the skills gap.
Widenhouse expands on this: "Recognizing the urgent need to bridge the skills gap, many companies, including Phillips Corporation, are now providing comprehensive training programs and solutions. These programs can offer a multitude of workforce enhancement opportunities, including equipping new hires with the most up-to-date skillsets to establish a foundation for success and propelling the skills of more seasoned machinists. These initiatives are not just about enhancing employee capabilities but also about future-proofing the workforce against the evolving demands of the industry."
The Manufacturing Skills Gap
Though it may not be the only industry dealing with a skills gap, this issue is particularly prevalent within manufacturing. Widenhouse can think of a few reasons for this noticeable difference, but the one that stands out is the lack of knowledge people, especially young people, have about working in the manufacturing industry.
“There is a lingering misconception about manufacturing jobs; people think they’re low-skilled, low-paying, and involve harsh working conditions,” Widenhouse says. “This false image discourages younger people from pursuing careers in manufacturing.”
Widenhouse believes the skills gap in the industrial sector is so significant because people are unaware of how creative and fulfilling manufacturing careers can be. One way to combat this is to get people acquainted with the manufacturing sector early on. Many education centers are catching on to this and working to drive student interest in manufacturing and machining.
This has led to educational institutions adopting more programs aimed at teaching students about skilled trades. They’re investing in manufacturing technologies for the classroom and giving students hands-on experience that will help them be successful in these jobs.
It’s not just a lack of education in students, though. As older workers with more experience and knowledge leave the workforce, manufacturers are finding that their current workers don’t have the skillset to effectively replace them. “To combat this, manufacturers need to keep their workforce educated,” Widenhouse says. “It requires investment in continued and supplemental education to ensure workers have the right skills.”
Closing the Skills Gap
The skills gap is causing a lot of pain points for manufacturers and limiting the industry’s growth potential. That’s why it’s so important for the sector to strategize ways to resolve this issue.
“One of the most important things to focus on to close the skills gap is marketing. We can attract more skilled workers by raising awareness of the benefits manufacturing positions offer. Manufacturing touches everything; everything you have started with machining at some point. Most people don’t think like that, though, so it requires a mindset shift,” Widenhouse says.
Bridging the generational divide in the workforce is another way manufacturers can help close the skills gap. Older, more experienced workers are retiring and leaving the workforce in droves, which is significantly contributing to the skills gap. Meanwhile, younger workers are looking for jobs that have a pathway laid out for them; they want to know how they can progress within a company. Manufacturers who plan this roadmap and invest in training younger workers have less turnover and a more skilled – and dedicated – workforce.
Widenhouse also emphasizes that different generations of workers should connect within the workplace: “Older generations need to partner up with younger workers. They can learn from each other. More experienced workers can teach their skills to the new workforce and help them become the next leaders in the industry.”
Another way to get younger manufacturing workers more engaged in the industry is to have them serve as representatives at local educational institutions. This not only helps improve the experience for them, but also gets students more interested in industry.
“Having a younger, successful manufacturing representative come in and talk to classes allows students to imagine themselves in these positions. It shows that they can step into this role and be successful,” explains Widenhouse. “It really does come back to effective marketing, and this strategy helps students see that entering the manufacturing field allows them to start in a good job and work their way up.”
This also connects to another thing Widenhouse suggests for manufacturers to minimize the skills gap: getting involved with local schools and joining the advisory boards for manufacturing programs at local community colleges. This allows manufacturers to have a seat at the table and offer guidance when these programs are creating the curriculum needed to graduate.
“Some of these skills aren’t really being taught in schools right now,” Widenhouse says. “So, if manufacturers can connect with their local districts and colleges to get apprenticeships going, to adjust the curriculum, that will help to drive this mindset shift around manufacturing while creating opportunities for students to enter the field. It’s really a win-win situation.”
Advancing Manufacturing
As mentioned above, a key part of closing the skills gap is properly educating the current and future workforce on manufacturing and the opportunities the industry offers. Manufacturing is evolving – industrial facilities aren’t the dark, dank basements that people once thought they were.
In addition to investing in training and upskilling, manufacturers need to educate people on what they do and how they make an impact on the community. The workforce needs to see how parts are being manufactured and learn what that product’s place is in the world around them.
“Are you serving the military? Are you creating parts for race cars? Are you helping the community? Are you working with clean energy? Are you developing life-saving medical devices? Manufacturers are the driving force behind all of these fields and more, and it’s essential their contributions are highlighted,” Widenhouse says. “By showcasing their impact on the world, manufacturers can successfully attract more skilled workers to the industry and help fill the skills gap.”
If you’re a manufacturer concerned about the skills gap and looking to enhance your own workforce, contact Phillips to learn about their training solutions. And if you’re looking to connect with other regional manufacturers and learn more strategies to close the skills gap, look into attending SOUTHTEC 2025.
Bio:
Meaghan Widenhouse, Director of Commercial Education, Phillips Corporation
Meaghan Widenhouse has been a valuable member of Phillips Corporation since 2023. In her role as Director of Commercial Education, Meaghan offers unwavering support to the Phillips Education Community and the Haas Technical Educational Community (HTEC). She is the primary resource for educational institutions, specializing in innovative recruitment strategies, meticulous conference planning and coordinating support for prestigious competitions such as SkillsUSA and Project MFG. Meaghan also assists instructors in applying for educational grants, developing curricula, and actively participates on school advisory boards. Additionally, she ensures that schools stay up-to-date on the latest educational tools and products from Phillips, integrating cutting-edge technology and resources into their programs.
Before joining Phillips, Meaghan spent nearly a decade in the community relations office of a textiles company. In this role, she supported numerous non-profit organizations, orchestrated events, and established a pioneering reading program in partnership with an elementary school, fostering a collaboration between associates and students.