U.S. manufacturing companies 600,000 skilled workers short, Deloitte, Manufacturing Institute find

A new survey from Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute found a shortage of as many as 600,000 skilled workers at U.S. manufacturing companies.

The survey, “Boiling Point? The skills gap in U.S. manufacturing,” polled 1,123 executives from manufacturing companies around the country and found that 5 percent of current manufacturing jobs are unfilled because of a lack of qualified candidates.

“The survey shows that 67 percent of manufacturers have a moderate to severe shortage of available, qualified workers,” said Craig Giffi, vice chairman and consumer & industrial products industry leader, Deloitte LLP. “Moreover, 56 percent anticipate the shortage to increase in the next three to five years.”

“These unfilled jobs are mainly in the skilled production category – positions such as machinists, operators, craft workers, distributors and technicians,” said Emily DeRocco, president, The Manufacturing Institute. “Unfortunately, these jobs require the most training and are traditionally among the hardest manufacturing jobs to find existing talent to fill.”

The workforce shortages and skill deficiencies in production roles are significantly impacting companies’ abilities to expand operation or improve productivity, according to 64 percent of respondents. DeRocco encouraged companies to partner with educational institutions to make developing workforce skills a top strategic priority.

“Over the past five years, most manufacturers have redesigned and streamlined their production lines while implementing more process automation. In short, just as the industry is changing, the skills of the workers are changing as well,” DeRocco said. “Manufacturers obviously want to fill these roles by tapping the currently available workforce. However, they report that the No. 1 skills deficiency among their current employees is in the area of problem solving, making it difficult for current employees to adapt to changing needs. Adding to the problem, respondents report that the education system is not producing workers with the basic skills they need.”

“The results of this survey may appear dire,” said Tom Morrison, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, “but in reality each of these challenges is surmountable. The United States has among the largest, strongest manufacturing industries in the world and has demonstrated its ability to innovate and adapt time and time again.”