By now we’ve all heard about the impending skills gap in manufacturing — and how the combination of baby boomer retirements, economic expansion and new technology will likely cause some 2 million manufacturing jobs to go unfilled over the next decade. But everyone might not have heard how programs like SME PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) are enhancing the talent pipeline to address skilled trade shortages.
Consider this: High school graduates have been so effectively encouraged to get a bachelor’s degree that they’re not going after plentiful, high-paying jobs — including manufacturing jobs — requiring shorter, less-expensive training. According to The Good Jobs Project, launched in 2017 by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, some 30 million good-paying U.S. jobs don’t require bachelor’s degrees.