Manufacturing Jobs Initiative – Manufacturers Coming Together

Nearly everyone working in manufacturing today understands, or has at least heard about the skills gap that continues to plague the industry. Unqualified and untrained, today’s modern workforce missed the boat when it comes to manufacturing jobs and the skills required to find employment. The White House’s new administration is taking this situation extremely seriously and put together the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative to help find a solution.

The full list of manufacturing leaders was officially released today, Friday 1/27/17. Some of the manufacturing leaders include Elon Musk, Scott Paul, Dennis Muilenburg, Klaus Kleinfeld, just to name a few. All the names will be listed at the bottom of this article. The plethora of business leaders come from a range of manufacturing sectors. Some include, automotive, technology, industrial machinery, aerospace, steel and so many more. Having such a range of sectors offers a unique perspective. Collaboration between the sectors will help the nation find the root of the hiring issue and help the manufacturing industry take the right steps to bridge the skills gap.

When looking at manufacturing job growth and hiring, analysts predict a large amount of jobs will continue to go unfilled due to a lack of skills. There has been a slue of data on the subject and they all differ slightly. However, it is certain that millions of these high paying and fulfilling jobs will remain open if something isn’t done.

Ideally this group of manufacturers who will also be meeting with President Trump periodically is a fantastic first step in solving this serious issue. Especially as more manufacturers are encouraged to bring operations back within our nation’s borders, the need for skilled workers will only increase. Hopes are high that this wide range of industry professionals will bring with it unique perspectives from their own industries and their own moral and political ideologies, creating a moderate mix of ideas to come up with an actionable solution.

Manufacturing Talk Radio will be keeping a close eye on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative so check back soon for the latest updates. Below is the full list of members as found on Industry Week.

Inge Thulin, 3M Co.

Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO president

Scott Paul, Alliance for American Manufacturing

Klaus Kleinfeld, Arconic Inc.

Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing Co.

Denise Morrison, Campbell Soup Co.

Doug Oberhelman, Caterpillar Inc.

Wendell Weeks, Corning Inc.     

Jim Kamsickas, Dana Inc.

Michael Dell, Dell Technologies

Andrew Liveris, Dow Chemical Co.

Mark Fields, Ford Motor Co.

Jeff Immelt, General Electric Co.

Bill Brown, Harris Corp.

Brian Krzanich, Intel Corp.

Mark Sutton, International Paper Co.

Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin Corp.

Ken Frazier, Merck & Co. Inc.

Mike Polk, Newell Brands Inc.

John Ferriola, Nucor Corp.

Elon Musk, Tesla Motors Inc.

Rich Kyle, Timken Co.

Kevin Plank, Under Armour Inc.

Greg Hayes, United Technologies Corp.

Mario Longhi, U.S. Steel Corp.

Jeff Fettig, Whirlpool Corp.

 

Sources:

http://www.industryweek.com/leadership/trump-announces-manufacturing-jobs-initiative

https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/27/trumps-manufacturing-council-includes-elon-musk-michael-dell-and-mark-fields/

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-manufacturing-factbox-idUSKBN15B1PZ