Report reveals conflicting opinions on skilled-labor shortage

PwC has released “Upskilling manufacturing: How technology is disrupting America’s industrial labor force,” a report based on a 2016 survey of 120 U.S. manufacturers with emphasis on how advanced manufacturing technologies are affecting workforce dynamics.

According to PwC, while there is some concern over skills gaps, manufacturers are working to close those gaps. As manufacturers increase their application of advanced manufacturing technologies, their needs for more qualified talent become more pressing.

However, among the survey participants, skills shortages are not felt uniformly. On one hand, 33 percent of the manufacturers surveyed said they have no or only a little difficulty hiring talent to exploit advanced manufacturing technologies, while 44 percent report moderate difficulty.

On the other hand, 31 percent of manufacturers believe there will be a skills shortage in the next three years. Twenty-nine percent said it exists and will get worse. And 26 percent said the shortage has peaked and is improving.

One reason for the difference of opinion is that manufacturers differ in their understanding of the skills involved in the skills gap. Eighty-seven percent of respondents said they have had some difficulty in hiring talent to exploit advanced manufacturing technology, such as 3-D printing, IoT, and robotics. Seventy-five percent of factory floor jobs now are being filled by those with educations beyond high school.

Openings for manufacturing jobs continue to outnumber the number of hires by tens of thousands, but at the same time, U.S. manufacturing has entered an era of a workforce of historically few factory workers yielding greater productivity and output. Automation, more than off-shoring, is resulting in a diminished need for production and assembly workers, the report says.