OHIO EMPLOYER DEMAND FOR LIGHTWEIGHTING GROWS BY 68 PERCENT SINCE 2012

COLUMBUS, OHIO – Employer demand for lightweighting-related skills in Ohio increased by 68 percent since Q1 2012 with more than 55,000 job postings during Q2 2018. This according to a new report from Detroit-based LIFT—Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow, a Manufacturing USA Institute.

Although Ohio experienced a decline in online job ads for lightweighting-related occupations between Q1 and Q2, 2018 marks the eighth consecutive year of employment growth with over 745,000 individuals employed in the field today. 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 Ohio in Q2 2018 included:

Maintenance and Repair Workers (7,269 postings), Industrial Engineers (5,229 postings), First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers (5,141 postings), Laborers and Freight, Stock and Material Movers (3,413 postings) and Helpers— Production Workers (2,972 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 Ohio report can be viewed at: https://lift.technology/education-workforcedevelopment/.