The labor shortage issue has been around for years. As the previous generation of skilled laborers retires, the next wave of laborers entering the workforce is not nearly of the same scale. To further add to the problem, manufacturing is not slowing down. The state of skilled labor has been below equilibrium for some time.
A 2020 study by the Workforce Institute, a research team from Ultimate Kronos Group, a workforce and human resources management company, found that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were already projections of a 6 million-worker shortage in manufacturing by 2030. Add the additional labor shortages and the move to reshoring because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have an even bigger problem on our hands. Talk about the future being glum! In the manufacturing world, going “back to normal” doesn’t cut it.
