America has a huge manufacturing labor shortage—and its education system is nowhere close to plugging the gap
Tony Schmitz and The Conversation
January 4, 2023
The U.S. Navy is beginning to build 12 top-of-the-line nuclear submarines , with the first one scheduled to be completed by 2027. But it is missing a critical ingredient: many of an estimated 50,000 skilled workers to get the job done. It also lacks a reliable supply chain and the infrastructure to build the massive vessels.
Across America, industries are facing enormous supply chain delays, worker shortages and places to build due to several decades of offshoring and deemphasizing manufacturing research, education and training in the U.S.
For example, the textile industry is experiencing a 20% worker shortage, and the metal fabrication industry expects a 400,000-worker shortage by 2024. The first decade of the 21st century alone saw U.S. manufacturing jobs decline by one-third, falling from 17 million in 2000 to below 12 million in 2010.
I am a manufacturing researcher who works on ways to solve a key part of American manufacturing challenges: preparing workers to leverage today’s technology while advancing tomorrow’s technology. A new workforce skilled in the design and operation of new and existing machine tools is needed to ensure America has enough workers to fill jobs.
