There is a 400,000 shortage of manufacturing employees today. This issue has been ongoing for years. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), at its peak in June 1979, manufacturing employment represented 22% of total nonfarm employment, but that share had fallen to 9% by June 2019. This downtrend coincides with the changing of the U.S. economy over time from manufacturing to service based. Since 2000, the loss was magnified to over 4.7 million jobs.
Conversely, “[f]or every 20 job postings that we have, there is one qualified applicant right now,” said David Gitlin, the chairman and chief executive of Carrier Global, which produces air-conditioners and furnaces and services heating and cooling equipment. This problem will exacerbate if more manufacturing is returned to the U.S. from overseas given the current administration’s trade policy.
Difficulty attracting and retaining a quality work force has been consistently cited as a “top primary challenge” by American manufacturers since 2017, said Victoria Bloom, the chief economist at the National Association of Manufacturers. The scarcity of skilled blue-collar workers remains a long-term problem, according to Ron Hetrick, an economist with Lightcast. “We spent three generations telling everybody that if they didn’t go to college, they are a loser,” he said. “Now we are paying for it. We still need people to use their hands.”
Despite the U.S. seeing 3.8 million new manufacturing jobs by 2033, according to Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, seeing manufacturing as a career path is clouded. Gen Z enrollment in trade schools is on the rise, but the newest generation entering the workforce is largely eschewing factory jobs, citing low wages, according to a 2023 Soter Analytics study. U.S. manufacturing jobs in the U.S. have an average $25-per-hour wage – about $51,890 per year – falling short of the average American salary of $66,600.
To make up for the shortage, many manufacturers have stepped up their game with highly technical solutions that would allow for less workers. Yet, to hire into these companies, there is a major cost involved. High school graduates will not cut it. Many with high level manufacturing jobs require intensive training for those who have the aptitude for the work. College graduates with high debt are not likely to look at manufacturing jobs as the solution to their problems. Why go to college if you are going to work the factory line?
The current K-12 school system is not cutting it. “The gap between available skills and needed skills in the work force is widening,” Chris Kastner, the president and chief executive of HII, said. “Technology is evolving fast, but education and training systems too often lag behind.”
On the other hand, the administration may not be helping, especially in destroying the whole to eliminate a specific problem. Job Corps, a 60-year-old program that provides at-risk youths from 16 to 24 with a path to a career in the trades, is an example. Huntington Ingalls Industries, the country’s largest shipbuilder, hired 68 Job Corps graduates in December. However, the administration wants to shut it all down because the ROI and possible fraud may not be worth it to keep the doors open.
Where able, a number of manufacturers have started recruiting in high school to build the talent pipeline. Sara Armbruster, the chief executive of Steelcase, a company in Grand Rapids, Mich., that designs furniture, said businesses must begin recruiting in high school to educate students and their parents about how rewarding a career in manufacturing could be.
With advanced manufacturing using AI and robotics, continuous learning is important. Working with community colleges is another way to build a talent pipeline. Further, registered apprenticeship programs and manufacturing extension partnerships can be another draw. Apprenticeships have been a highly favored approach for many years, and graduates from these programs tend to stay with the company that brought them along.
The long and short of it, HR has to be creative and involved in the community in which the organization is located, including compensation. Further, the pipeline needs to be looked at from multiple angles. It is not just the youth that could be in the pipeline, but soon to be retirees and career switchers, regardless of gender. With a competitive environment and jobs that are both compelling and professional in their own way, HR needs to think outside the box to make inroads in the labor shortage.
Source: AOL 6/30/25, New York Times 6/23/25, Forbes 6/17/25