Pandemic-era worker shortages have been pegged to mass resignations, but the manufacturing sector’s current talent and expertise gap has earlier antecedents.
Decades of labor cost reductions — through hiring caps, lower or stagnant wages, and anemic investment in technology and training — is coming back to bite the industry, according to experts who spoke at the recent 2022 MIT Manufacturing Conference.
Compared to other industries, the share of open job positions as a percentage of overall manufacturing jobs has continued to rise well beyond the impact of ongoing resignations sparked by the pandemic.