INDIANA EMPLOYER DEMAND FOR LIGHTWEIGHTING GROWS BY 50 PERCENT SINCE 2012

INDIANAPOLIS – Employer demand for lightweighting-related skills in Indiana increased by nearly 4 percent between Q1 and Q2 2018, and by 50 percent since Q1 2012 with close to 28,000 job postings. This according to a new report from Detroitbased LIFT—Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow, a Manufacturing USA Institute.

Additionally, 2018 marks the ninth consecutive year of employment growth in lightweighting-related occupations in Indiana with over 500,000 workers in the field today– the greatest employment level since 2007.

The quarterly reports, highlighting employment trends, top jobs, and required skills in advanced manufacturing through Q2 2018, are completed with research and analysis from the Workforce Intelligence Network of Southeast Michigan (WIN) for Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee – a region home to more than 50 percent of the metalworking jobs in the country.

“As we invest in advanced manufacturing research and development and lightweighting innovation, new and significant employment opportunities are continuing to emerge,” said Emily DeRocco, education and workforce director, LIFT. “The challenge we are working to address is in educating students and workers to rebuild the pipeline where job demand continues to outpace supply. An investment in talent, paired with collaboration among industry and education, will be critical to mitigating today’s skills gap and retaining jobs.”

The top in-demand lightweighting-related occupations in Indiana in Q2 2018 included: Maintenance and Repair Workers (4,060 postings), First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers (3,112 postings) Industrial Engineers (3,054 postings), Laborers and Freight, Stock and Material Movers (1,934 postings) and First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers and Repairers (1,435 postings).

LIFT, operated by the American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII) and one of the founding Manufacturing USA institutes, is a publicprivate partnership dedicated to developing and deploying advanced lightweight metal manufacturing technologies, and implementing education and training programs to better prepare the workforce today and in the future.

The full Indiana report can be viewed at: https://lift.technology/education-workforcedevelopment/.