The future of each company depends on its people, and sometimes highly skilled people are hard to find. Across Europe and in the United States manufacturers are struggling with a gap of skills, especially in machining and manufacturing companies.

It is possible that the solution to the shortage of skills could bring a new learning period based on the internal training of workers and the collaboration with local educational institutions. This would allow to bring young talent to the industry.

A study of Deloitte found that “in the next decade there will be a demand of almost 3.5 million jobs in the United States manufacturing industry”. Due to the deficit of skills, 2 million of those jobs are not to be covered”. The situation in Europe is similar. More than 80% of executives surveyed in the report believe that the skills gap will affect its ability to meet the demand of customers. They also believe that it will impact their ability to increase productivity and implement new technologies.

In view of the situation, how could machining and manufacturing companies help positively in this change? Manufacturers need to play a more proactive role in detection and training of young talents. Learning and internal training must be increased. For young talents, learning means to be skilled and highly qualified but at the same time without any kind of debt with companies and public organizations. For employers, this strategy assures that employees have the skills really needed.

Moreover, in the future there will be new types of skills that will have a great demand. A factory will consist of thousands of IoT sensors and a set of new devices connected to the Internet which will be collecting data continuously. This will result in a greater need for analyzing a big amount of data and the automating of key processes. For young learners, the technical, analytical and personal skills learned will be a good value as workers.

In some countries, as in the United Kingdom, the wages of the manufacturing industry are higher than the national average. So, we must think carefully about how you build your skills. Ask yourself: Who benefit my company more in the long run, a worker with a degree or a young professional trained in the reality of the company and committed to its success?