The Manufacturing Workforce

For years, U.S. manufacturers have struggled to find and keep good workers. The pandemic brought this to crisis level, and the difficult labor market has led companies to find creative workforce solutions. Beyond offering competitive pay and benefits, firms need to provide a great culture where employees understand how they contribute to the organization’s success. Many workers want opportunities for training, a clear career pathway, and encouragement to move up within the organization. This video features manufacturers discussing common workforce challenges and solutions their companies have found. For example, Mayville Engineering Company or MEC (a client of Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions, the Arkansas MEP) responds to the challenge of keeping good employees by promoting from within the organization. BrightView Technologies (a North Carolina MEP client) welcomes diversity because it helps them creatively solve engineering and manufacturing problems. Sweet Grass Dairy (a Georgia MEP client) has inspired loyalty in their workforce by making it clear that each employee’s work is part of something bigger. AMG Engineering (a client of Indiana’s Purdue MEP) works hard to get the message out to high school students that they can have a great career in manufacturing, even without a college degree.