Many customers that we talk to are talking about the same thing: workforce attrition.

There is a major shortage of a skilled workforce and people are retiring. Companies are struggling to bring up the next generation.

 “The average age has shot way up near the retirement age, where manufacturing is trying to entice retirees back in because they don't have the amount of skilled, educated workers coming in to replace the people that are leaving. And I don't think it's being dramatic to say that it has reached a crisis point,” said Jason Simon, the Director at AMTEC.

How can industry solve this problem?

First, industry has a marketing problem. We have allowed a perception to go unchallenged way too long. We have heard that public perception is that manufacturing plants are hot, old, and dirty. THAT COULDN’T BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH! Manufacturing facilities are highly technical and constantly evolving with new technologies.

Second, industry needs to rethink our traditional institutions. There needs to be a standard that is scalable and adaptable, and quick to implement. It is imperative for the future of industry that subject matter experts come together, even from direct competitors, and solve this problem. This is where AMTEC comes in to bridge the gap.

AMTEC, the Advanced Manufacturing Technical Education Collaborative, is pioneering this methodology and it is proving results. They found out through bringing many SMEs in from different industry sectors to establish education standards that a maintenance technician in automotive has very similar skill sets as one in aerospace, food and beverage, or even utility. This was a wonderful breakthrough to develop standards, but a larger problem remains:

The gap between todays institutions: Education and Industry

Education is full of bureaucracy and moves at a snail’s pace. Industry, especially now during industrial 4.0 and IIoT, is moving at breakneck speeds. This is extremely difficult to account for when the technicians you need today in industry must go through a multi-year education course, and by the time they graduate, are already behind the eight ball.

It is not an us v them approach. AMTEC is providing a turnkey solution for education to teach industrial skilled workers and to provide them to their industry partners. For education, they focus on providing a curriculum for a hybrid environment: hands on in a lab or workplace, and in classroom. For Industry, they are bridging the gap of the time it takes to provide a skilled laborer.

This happens through their industry partners as well as their instructors. Many of their instructors are from industry and have hands on experience for what they are teaching. Also, they bring in their industry partner to provide them the areas that the curriculum needs updates.

The symbiotic relationship that they have demonstrated between industry and education is a wonderful start to solving a massive crisis in America.