NIMS awards record number of credentials to manufacturing students, workers in 2015

Fairfax, Va.-based National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS), a standards and skill certification body for the metalworking industry, has announced that it awarded a record number of credentials in 2015 to individuals seeking to enter into or advance in jobs in the industry. Last year NIMS issued 21,420 industry-recognized credentials, resulting in a 20 percent increase in credentials issued in the U.S. from 2014.

“Our industry will need to fill over 100,000 jobs over the next decade, which begins with equipping students and workers today with industry-recognized credentials that prepare them for current and future jobs,” said Jim Wall, executive director. “These jobs will require more advanced skills, particularly around the use of technology, so training candidates to industry standards is imperative.”

NIMS has developed skills standards from entry level to master level that cover the breadth of metalworking operations and industrial technology maintenance. The organization certifies individuals’ skills against these national standards via credentials that companies can use to recruit, hire, place, and promote workers. Schools and employer training programs incorporate the credentials as performance and completion measures.

The institute plans to add credentials in industrial technology maintenance and CAM in 2016-2017.