Advanced manufacturing technologies such as artificial intelligence and 3D printing are changing the skill requirements for living-wage jobs previously accessible with little or no formal education and training. These jobs now demand higher education and technical skills, locking many people of color, women, and low-income groups out of the workforce because they can not afford or access training and often don’t even know about the opportunities. These barriers reduce the talent pool, putting immense pressure on manufacturers to find the right skills and reskill their current workforce. The pandemic has cast a spotlight on this issue, demonstrating the need for a skilled workforce to build agility in operations and prepare for future unknown events. Further, the Biden Administration recently announced the Build Back Better plan that focuses on rebuilding the local manufacturing industry by investing in R&D of advanced technologies and small businesses owned by women and people of color. The plan intends to provide historically underrepresented groups access to training and education programs to build a diverse workforce. 

The Urban Manufacturing Alliance and the Century Foundation hosted a webinar to discuss questions such as: How can manufacturing corporations, government, and communities join the drive to create equitable economies? How can they solve the recruitment challenge? How can they leverage advances in technology to create more inclusive practices? How can they address the disparities in access to manufacturing careers? 

The conversation featured Jacqui Mieksztyn, Talent Strategist at LIFT; Lizabeth Stuck, Head of Engagement and Workforce Development at MxD; Dr. Keenan Grenell, Executive Director of the Manufacturing Diversity Institute (MDI) and President & CEO of the Grenell Group, LLC; Montez King, Executive Director of NIMS; Opening remarks and introduction by Katy Stanton, Programming and Operations Director at the Urban Manufacturing Alliance; Dr. Ron Williams, Assistant Professor of Management at Coppin State University; and Andrew Stettner, Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

New technologies demand new organizational culture. 

Due to the increasing workforce demands, manufacturing companies are seeing  an influx of workers with different skills and backgrounds. This shift calls for addressing organizational changes to foster workforce engagement and development. Montez King, Executive Director of NIMS, suggested that creating a standard set of on-the-job duties would allow organizations to help workers adapt to the changing work environments. Montez added that NIMS developed a framework to measure the performance of all stakeholders, including organizations, trainers, and trainees. It is designed to help employers identify the gaps in their training programs and share their performance needs with the workforce organizations. Lizabeth Stuck agreed, saying workers need to understand how they fit into the bigger picture and change their behavior to implement the training and use new technologies. Montez suggested that creating a stakeholder environment in an organization would make the “trainer’s success synonymous with the trainee’s success,” allowing the trainer to think differently and reducing inequality in the workplace. 

Technological advances are giving rise to new training programs focused on creating an equitable future for manufacturing through credentialing-but employers need to be trained too. 

Jacqui Miekstyn, Talent Strategist from LIFT, mentioned that the shift toward automation requires combining talent with technology development to build a high-skilled workforce for the future. Jacqui stated LIFT partnered with Amatrol to launch a new learning system called “IGNITE: Mastering Manufacturing, which is a three-year curriculum for high-school students, featuring hybrid course materials and virtual simulations coupled with hands-on learning to help them master new technologies and processes.” Jacqui said that LIFT has a signature program called “Operation Next, which is designed for transitioning military soldiers to be able to earn industry-recognized credentials for some of the high-demand manufacturing jobs.” However, due to a high degree of relevance, LIFT is expanding the program to the civilians displaced in Detroit and Pittsburgh by the coronavirus pandemic. Run out of  LIFT’s Learning Lab, these programs help people gain foundational skills necessary for advanced manufacturing careers, allowing them to apply these skills in a project-based learning environment, and help them earn credentials as they learn. 

LIFT also recognizes the need to train employers who are adopting new technologies. They often lack understanding of the skills they need to look for in the workforce. To better prepare both sides,  LIFT helps employers  leverage third-party credentialing bodies’ work and form a standard set of competencies and skills. This enables workforce development organizations to help workers gain industry-specific skills required to solve real industry problems. However, Jacqui called out that LIFT and other workforce organizations still need to better understand “how the industry uses credentials for hiring and career advancement opportunities and also to what extent does the industry recognize these credentials and value them.”

Automation is here, but it does mean that jobs are gone

As automation becomes an integral part of manufacturing, workforce organizations need to build new pathways to help workers keep up with the changing technology landscape. Lizabeth Stuck, Head of Engagement and Workforce Development at MxD, cited that her organization is exploring how advanced technologies can improve manufacturers’ ability to make real-time decisions that lead to increased output and efficiency. Lizabeth added that MxD’s workforce development programs are based on three main pillars. The first pillar addresses the broader industry issues (eg. skills gap) and ensures full industry participation and validation. The second pillar is to have a community-driven approach because most workforce programs fail when they are done in a silo. The third pillar is to look outside the usual talent pipelines to attract diverse skills and ensure that underserved communities are aware and ready to take advantage of the new opportunities in the manufacturing sector. Taken together, these three pillars support deepened relationships between manufacturers and communities, and are working to ensure a racially inclusive workforce for the future. 

Thinking big – Establishing new Black manufacturing entrepreneurs

Dr. Keenan Grenell, Executive Director of the Manufacturing Diversity Institute (MDI) and President & CEO of the Grenell Group, stated that leaders in training and education also need to inspire people from different backgrounds to think about manufacturing as an entrepreneurial opportunity. Dr. Grenell mentioned that MDI launched a Manufacturing Idea Challenge initiative to promote new businesses and assign entrepreneurs a mentor who plug them into various networking opportunities and scale up their idea. MDI also helps underserved manufacturers to increase their exports. Tapping into new markets outside the US would allow them to increase revenues and provide sustainable job opportunities to the communities they serve. Dr. Grenell stated that MDI is currently working on the “reshoring, reinvestment, and regrowth initiative” that supports the Biden Administration’s plan to bring manufacturing jobs back to America. Reshoring could be a starting point for women- and minority-owned businesses to enter the manufacturing sector and take advantage of the existing businesses who want to rethink their business models to make it a new revenue source.