Lisa Walker, managing director and global industrial practice leader at DHR Global, describes the plight of manufacturers who are facing a shortage of workers in the years ahead, and offers some solutions to the problem. 

The current level of unemployment in the U.S. manufacturing sector remains high, but not as much as a few years ago, Walker says. The future, though, poses a problem. Within the next five to 10 years, between 20% and 40% of the population could be retiring. Estimates are that 2.1 million manufacturing jobs could go unfilled by 2030, adding up to $1 trillion in costs in that year alone. “This is a problem that we have under control at the moment,” she says, “but it’s something we have to keep our eye on, because the demographics are not in our favor.”

Manufacturing employment over the last 20 years has suffered at the hands of the software and financial services sectors, where jobs have been considered more “glamorous,” Walker says. It’s the task of manufacturers to change that perception, by highlighting how the industry has changed, along with its vital role in supporting the economy and “making a difference in people’s lives.” Raising compensation is also a necessary step toward making manufacturing jobs more attractive, as the industry conforms to the law of supply and demand. If that happens, she says, “we will see folks from the tech sector moving in. They’ll pick up manufacturing skills.”

The required skills for the manufacturing plant of the future will be different than in the past, in line with advances in automation and sophisticated information systems. In particular, there will be a need for people to work with artificial intelligence programs. “Interpreting the data not something that in the next 10 years we’re going to leave to a black box,” Walker says.

An emphasis on diversity in hiring will also help to fill the coming labor gap, by drawing on a wider range of potential job candidates, she says.