Rising Need for Workers in Manufacturing Jobs in Post-Pandemic Economy

Every year the United States celebrates Labor Day and the impact American workers have had on the social and economic achievements contributing to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. As advanced manufacturing jobs return home in the post-pandemic economy, new factories need to be built, robots programmed, new infrastructure developed, and the talent pipeline needs to be replenished with skilled and career-ready workers.

To address these challenges, Manufacturing Day celebrations are helping show the reality of modern manufacturing careers by encouraging thousands of companies and educational institutions around the nation to open their doors to students, parents, teachers, and community leaders. MFG Day empowers manufacturers to come together to address their collective challenges so they can help their communities and future generations thrive, and is held annually on the first Friday in October with events that continue throughout the month.

For decades, the theory has been that top students get into the best universities and land white-collar jobs while the rest are forced to endure, at best, a high school or community college vocational program where they will secure blue-collar roles. Over the years, the dividing line between blue- and white-collar workers has grown frayed and it is about time to move to a new-collar worker philosophy where essential skills matter more than outdated degrees.

While some of these jobs require a college education, most are “middle skill” jobs requiring a high school diploma, a foundation of math and science, along with some additional training acquired through apprenticeship and/or credentialing programs.

Increasingly, there are many companies offering well-paying jobs to those with nontraditional education/training or a high-school diploma. The U.S. is now discovering the demise of vocational education and educational basics at the high school level has bred a skills shortage and a lack of technical college and career-ready graduates.

The U.S. educational system, along with its business partners, are now graduating more career and college-ready citizens with the employable skills and knowledge to obtain their first job and/or continue on with post-secondary education or credentialing for success in work and life. Employers and educational leaders are reevaluating the need for Career Technical Education as an educational strategy that equips learners with the academic and technical skills they need to be prepared for future careers. CTE is having a positive effect on graduation rates where 95% of CTE students graduate high school, 10% higher than the national average. Seventy-eight percent of CTE graduates enroll in post-secondary education full-time.

For the past eight years the Association for Manufacturing Excellence has collaborated with schools across the country. A benchmark for other school districts and communities is Williamsburg-James City County’s schools will hold its annual Manufacturing Day celebration to showcase local industry and the types of careers available to high school graduates; this year it will be virtual because of the pandemic.

Manufacturing Day is a vehicle for creating a new awareness that “Made in America” and the American dream can be become a reality for our students.

Written by:  Glenn Marshall, a member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, for The Virginia Gazette.