Ways to Attract Youth to Manufacturing

Miles Free.

We always look at the LNS Research emails that hit our inbox. I think you’ll be glad to see this one today, if you haven’t already:

“We’ve got a real problem on our hands in America. A gap’s growing between manufacturing workers set to retire in the next 10 to 15 years and those on the other end of the spectrum. Despite the exciting and innovative things happening in the industry, millennials’ outdated perception of shopfloor jobs is increasingly precluding them from following the career path.

“Resurging interest in manufacturing as a career will require a systemic effort, both publicly and privately. It’s going to have to be approached from the ground up, and we’ve come up with a list of seven things that will help attract the younger workforce to manufacturing.”

Here’s the list of seven things to attract youth to manufacturing: 

1. Manufacturing summer camps

2. 3D printing at home and in school

3. Gamification in manufacturing

4. Vocational schools and manufacturing-focused high school classes

5. National Manufacturing Day

6. Makerspaces 

7. Parents

We think that LNS Research has hit the nail on the head with this one. 

Originally posted at PMPAspeakingofprecision.com blog.