America used to see the loss of manufacturing jobs caused by outsourcing to low-wage countries, as that was the case the last four decades (decrease of 7 million). Yet, since 2000, 85% of the job loss is to automation (Source: Ball State University). For example, an automobile welder costs $25/hour for a worker, and $8/hour for a robot (Source: The Week).
I toured a well-known defense contractor’s manufacturing facility, and was amazed by this automation as well as the people running the facility. This specialized manufacturing will require 3.5 million skilled jobs in the next decade (Source: White House), requiring training to up-skill workers in a new skill set to work with the new manufacturing facility…an automated one.
Is your organization up-skilling its workforce for tomorrow’s technologies?
