Michigan Lightweighting Employment Hits High in 2018

Advanced manufacturing employment reached new heights in 2018 with more than 730,000 Michigan workers employed in lightweighting-related occupations – reaching its highest level since 2005 and marking its ninth consecutive year of growth, according to a new report from Detroit-based LIFT—Lightweight Innovations For Tomorrow, a national advanced manufacturing innovation institute.

Along with rising employment levels in 2018, employer demand for workers in lightweighting-related occupations grew by and estimated 19 percent from Q4 2017 through Q4 2018, with more than 66,500 jobs posted in the year’s final quarter.

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

“It is tremendously positive to see the trend in employment growth in Michigan for the ninth consecutive year,” said Emily DeRocco, education and workforce vice president, LIFT. “As demand for advanced manufacturing jobs continues to climb, it remains incumbent upon industry and educators to partner together to ensure the pipeline of people with the talent, skills and abilities to work in advanced manufacturing is robust to support the needs of the manufacturing base going forward.”

The top in-demand lightweighting-related occupations in Michigan in 2018 included: Industrial Engineers (19,164 postings), Maintenance and Repair Workers (18,051 postings), Mechanical Engineers (15,690 postings), First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers (13,035 postings) and Laborers and Freight, Stock and Material Movers (7,505 postings).

LIFT, operated by the American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII) and one of the founding Manufacturing USA institutes, is a public-private 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 Michigan report can be viewed at: https://lift.technology/education-workforce-development/.