Event Faces the Skilled Worker Shortage

The lack of skilled manufacturing workers is like the weather: Everybody complains about it, but nobody seems to be able to do anything about it, either. Well, folks, that’s simply not true—at least the part about skilled manufacturing workers.

Occasionally in this space, I like to relate industry-driven efforts to help us help ourselves when it comes to taking on the skilled worker shortage. One recent event that caught my attention, and I think you would enjoy hearing about, occurred in June of this year at Methods Machine Tools.

At its Sudbury, Mass., headquarters, the company played host to about 70 students enrolled in three Massachusetts’ vocational schools. Westfield Vocational Technical, Assabet Valley Regional and Wentworth Institute of Technology sent students to visit the Methods plant. At the event, students were provided tours of the company’s technology center and saw first-hand state-of-the-art machine tool technology and automation in action.

They also listened to discussions on how machining technology is applied in modern manufacturing. According to Clement Fucci, an instructor at Westfield, “To help the U.S. workforce, we need to engage and educate our students in manufacturing.”

We, as an industry, face the reality that industry and education must come together in order to create a sustainable pipeline of skilled talent to ensure that making things remains a critical leg on the U.S. economic stool. Methods and many other companies like it are stepping up to invest in helping students get a correct understanding of 21^st century manufacturing as a viable career path.

I think we can all get behind that!