Demand for Manufacturing Workers in the Midwest Continue to Soar

Advanced manufacturing employment demand in Midwest states has doubled in the past six years, to a report recently issued by LIFT.

Across Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, there were nearly 2.7 million workers in lightweighting-related advanced manufacturing jobs in Q2 2018.

The quarterly reports, highlighting employment trends, top jobs, and required skills in advanced manufacturing through Q1 2018, are completed with research and analysis from the Workforce Intelligence Network of Southeast Michigan (WIN) and Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, a region that’s home to more than 50 percent of the metalworking jobs in the country.

Across the region, employer demand for lightweighting-related skills, as measured by online job postings, has nearly doubled in those states since 2012.

“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.”

Read the full Q2 reports here.