Although today’s manufacturing world has a heavy dependence on automation, this in turn means the need for a tech savvy workforce is crucial in the evolvement in manufacturing across all industries. Over the next few decades Europe the US & China all predict a huge requirement in technologically advanced manufacturing roles that will need to be filled, however, with deficits in the skills gap getting bigger & bigger, this in turn could lead to a heavy dependence on more experienced workers to continue well past the current levels of retirement age, which for many would not be what they were envisaging for their later years.
Technology in this respect be both a blessing & a curse. Yes the improvements & gains made in all areas are huge but the need for new skills in workers to be able to keep up with new technology is currently not able to be at the level it needs to be & for the short term at least the gap will only get bigger as there are no easy or quick fixes to the issue & manufacturers face a very up hill struggle to keep up with the ever evolving advancements in the modern world.
In this respect the pressure is on to begin not only educating the workforce of tomorrow but to also create a level of interest & desire for students to see a future in these roles & the long-term benefits & prospects they bring. The need for manufactures to start investing in long term training programs from as early as school years, must be seen as a significant contribution to the future success of any company & the sooner these changes can be implemented the better the chance workers can begin to catch up with the technology.
The talent on offer is surely out there in abundance, the only question is will manufactures act fast enough to bridge the skills gap in time!
