Recruiting and Reshoring to Fill the Skills Gap: Key Elements of a National Skills Strategy

Recruiting the next generation of skilled manufacturers is the most important and the most difficult step in filling the skills gap. Recruiting is the most important step because programs will be created at the high school and community college levels if there is sufficient demand. It is the most difficult step because the educational system and population have been immersed in decades of misinformation about manufacturing’s value and career opportunities as well as the offshoring trend and push toward the necessity of a four-year degree. This webinar will provide clear evidence that manufacturing is returning to the U.S. and that the skilled manufacturing “professions” are a better choice for most of our youth and for our society. It will also present tools for making the required changes in perception within your community. The Reshoring Initiative documents the reshoring trend (what, where, why, how much, etc.) and provides tools for comparing the economics of offshoring to reshoring. Approximately 140,000 manufacturing jobs have been reshored by about 250 OEMs and thousands of their suppliers since the manufacturing employment low of January, 2010. Reshoring needs recruiting to provide the required quantity and quality of skilled workforce. Recruiting needs reshoring to demonstrate the wisdom of choosing a manufacturing career. You can help accelerate both trends.