Author: Lindsey WoolseyNIST-MEP 2013

http://www.woolseygroup.com/uploads/NIST_MEP_Make_Or_Buy_Workforce.pdf

There’s a shift There’s a shift underway . . .underway . . .

• New jobs• Better jobs• Returning jobs• New technologies• New Products• New Markets

Manufacturing Manufacturing MattersMatters

• 12 million + jobs in the U.S.• 2/3 of all private sector R&D• Employs over 60% all domestic scientists and

engineers• Attracts the most FDI than any other country• 65% of all U.S. trade• Premium wages and strong multiplier effect• Major support sector for our country’s other

economic drivers: healthcare, defense, energy, construction, business services

Another shift Another shift underway . . .underway . . .

• The ecosystem of innovation and production is increasingly intertwined

• Old paradigm: companies rely on synergies of association

• New paradigm: companies actively create them

Renewed Focus on Renewed Focus on Workforce Workforce

DevelopmentDevelopment• Rapidly changing equipment and

technology• Skill gaps across multiple levels: entry,

mid, advanced• Lack of experience on the job• Misperceptions by young people about

what manufacturing jobs really are• Education and training programs that are

misaligned with real needs

Manufacturers face a Manufacturers face a choice:choice:

Depending on: firm size, type of company, Depending on: firm size, type of company, urgency of need, availability of right worker urgency of need, availability of right worker at right timeat right time

Not “Or”, but “And”Not “Or”, but “And”• Must be a Make & Buy strategy for each

company• Must be a Make strategy for Colorado’s

education and training institutionso They cannot do this aloneo Need strong and ongoing industry input

about: • Critical occupations• Knowledge, skills and abilities of those

occupations