CINDY GROSS
Account Manager at HNI

Manufacturing Day is upon us again. The overall mission of Manufacturing Day is to support careers in skilled and technology trades.

On October 2, 2015, organizations across the country will pause to recognize the national efforts to address the growing need for skilled trade workers in manufacturing positions. These companies throughout the year will begin to address the technical labor shortage they face, pursue educational resources, and attempt to address the misconceptions about careers in manufacturing.

HNI is a proud supporter of educational programs dedicated to developing partnerships between businesses and high school students looking to pursue successful jobs in a skilled trade.

Why This Mission Matters

Why is this important to us in our mission to drive change? And why is it important for our partners and clients to support this mission too?

We think it’s simple. We want to help you drive meaningful change at your organization to be able to support finding highly qualified candidates into positions where there is great need. The success of not only our business, but also those of our partners, depends on being able to meet the demands of our customers through strategic placement of a skilled workforce.

But, filling these types of roles is no easy task. The 2015 Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte Skills Gap Study confirmed there is still a significant talent shortage in U.S. manufacturing and is predicted only to grow over the next decade.

Did you know that six out of ten open skilled production positions are unfilled due to talent shortage? That is especially hard to hear when the same study cited 80% of manufacturing companies are willing to pay more than the market rates in workforce areas hit hardest by the talent shortage.

How We As an Industry Can Help Address the Talent Shortage

We think addressing the wicked problem of the talent shortage with education and changing the perception around these types of desirable and rewarding jobs. Understanding that almost 3 million baby boomer retirements are coming over the next decade in manufacturing jobs, leads us to think about the generation not yet in the workforce.

As part of the mission of Manufacturing Day 2015, we at HNI support educational programs, such as GPS Education Partners, that assist high school students in matching into careers or training programs in the manufacturing sector.

For more information regarding GPS Education Partners, please visit www.gpsed.org.

We’d also love to hear your success stories of Manufacturing Day. Follow along on social media using our Twitter handle @HNIRisk and #MFGDay15.