One of the major challenges for a lot of US manufacturing companies is the high number of workers reaching retirement, taking their specialized skills and tribal knowledge with them. The 2021 Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute Manufacturing Talent study reveals that US manufacturing is looking at a potential shortage of up to 2.1 million jobs unfilled between 2020 and 2030, impacting everything from productivity to innovation.
With this shortage, manufacturers will find it much harder to deliver open orders on time, expand production levels, respond to customer needs quickly, leverage new market opportunities, and develop new innovations and new products. All this results in lost revenue and missed opportunities that could provide a competitive edge.