The CPA Practice Advisor (3/13, O’Bannon) reports on “two parallel studies” from the Manufacturing Institute and Delloitte, “The Skills Gap in US Manufacturing: 2015 and Beyond” and “Overwhelming Support: US public opinions on the manufacturing industry,” that reveal that US manufacturing “face[s] a significant skills gap over the next decade.”
The Advisor notes that according to Manufacturing Institute President Jennifer McNelly, the “skills shortage pervades all stages of manufacturing.” There are challenges associated with the skills shortage as baby boomers retire, new technologies require “a higher level of training and certification,” and our educational system “continues to lack the necessary focus on STEM education.”
Manufacturing Institute VP Gardner Carrick added that “the urgency to expand the domestic talent pool and address the skills gap is increasing day-by-day” as many executives surveyed plans to bring back operations to the US.
The Advisor also notes comments on the latter study by NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons, who said that “the public understands that manufacturing must be as much a part of America’s future as it was in our past.” Timmons continued by saying that Washington needs to address the concerns by adopting “a comprehensive manufacturing strategy to secure world-leading manufacturing in the United States and American Exceptionalism long into the future.”
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