“Manufacturers continue to cite their inability to attract and retain enough workers as a top concern,” said Chad Moutray, director of the Center for Manufacturing Research at The Manufacturing Institute.

  • “We know that firms in the sector will need to identify 2 million workers over the course of the next decade.”
  • “To achieve that goal, manufacturers need to think proactively about how to reach out to prospective employees—including working to change perceptions about the sector, focusing on the sector as a high-paying, advanced career and pathway to success, and differentiating manufacturing from other local competitors for talent.”
  • “In addition, workers are attracted by a culture that celebrates individual successes, values diversity and a social mission and advances their professional development.”

He added that manufacturers that embrace diversity, including by age, are more successful than those that do not.