It’s not just New Jersey: A shortage of skilled labor is impacting businesses throughout the country, and no industry has been hit harder than manufacturing.
Manufacturing in particular requires a good deal of hands-on learning than most secondary education courses. In this U.S. News and World Report op-ed, Johnny Magdaleno and Lee Wellington of the Urban Manufacturers Alliance, share ways of getting more businesses involved in the education of future manufacturers.
“Over the next decade, an estimated 2 million manufacturing jobs in the U.S. will go unfilled,” they write. “A 2014 study by Deloitte reports that the manufacturing skills gap will drive this deficit. According to the same study, about 70 percent of manufacturing CEOs say their workforce currently lacks technology, computer, basic technical and problem solving skills, while 78 percent said these shortcomings will hamper technological growth in U.S. manufacturing.”
