Data Spotlight: Skills Gap Costs Manufacturers $14,000 Per Unfilled Job
According to a new report by Newark element14, due to a widening skills gap, between two million and 3.5 million manufacturing jobs could be unfilled by 2025. Additionally, according to Manufacturing.Net, the report found “companies lose $14,000 on average for every manufacturing job that goes unfilled for at least three months, and that those vacancies negatively impact employee morale and productivity.”
The report blamed the jobs gap on “negative perceptions about manufacturing” among younger workers and on the fact that those younger workers lack the science, math and engineering skills to qualify for jobs that are available.
How can the United States address this problem? Becky McMorrow, a Newark element14 representative, said both government and the private sector must recommit to expanding training and technical education programs.