MT Magazine September/October 2022

FEATURE STORY

WORKFORCE ISSUE

28

AMT – The Association For Manufacturing’s mission on behalf of our members is to advance emerging and transformational technologies. Part of that mission surrounds workforce development, or what we’ve referred to as “Smartforce Development” for more than the past decade.

• Improve perceptions of careers in manufacturing that will incentivize families to consider dual credit programs and “earn-and-learn” apprenticeships as a method for reducing dependence on student loans. • Increase the adoption of smart industry-recognized standards and credentials using a central repository to track digital badges, microcredentials, certificates, and degrees using blockchain-type technology that provides companies with a method of finding workers on demand who possess the transformational technology competencies that are in demand. Industry Advisory Councils We have consistently advocated for AMT members to be active on industry advisory councils in schools in your local area, and we hope that you will advocate for our policy

Hiring for fit also means that we become more open and inclusive in our hiring practices to seek out underrepresented individuals and communities.

The AMT Manufacturing Mandate Recently, the Advocacy group at AMT published an update to the Manufacturing Mandate. This document is directed to Capitol Hill because it demands national attention and is designed to put forth our industry’s vision of a solution set to advance the cause of U.S. manufacturing on the global stage.

recommendations at the local, state, and federal levels. Doing so is particularly important now, as schools have been disrupted over the past couple of

The three key pillars of the AMT Manufacturing Mandate include recommendations around harnessing the power of manufacturing technology to spur innovation; injecting predictability and stability into tax, trade, and regulatory systems; and transforming the workforce into a Smartforce that is skilled in manufacturing technologies. Smartforce Recommendations Where Smartforce Development is concerned, we have made these key recommendations in the Manufacturing Mandate: • Develop federal policies that encourage the hiring of additional career and technical education (CTE) teachers. • Develop federal policies that incentivize schools to purchase manufacturing technology equipment for high school, community college, and engineering school programs.

years, resulting in an even greater skills gap that our industry, along with most every other industry in the country, is challenged in overcoming. To that end, we are seeing that more and more manufacturers are hiring for cultural fit, as compared to simply recruiting and hiring for specific skills and competencies, since the gap is so large between our industry’s open

positions and the number of qualified people coming out of technical school programs. That thinking is clear-minded.