Ask a quality engineer how they were introduced to metrology or inspection, and they’ll often answer that it wasn’t during their coursework, but in the field. It reflects the manufacturing world’s problem with visibility and messaging, and an important insight into why the term “skills gap” has been a buzzword for several years.
It isn’t exactly news—manufacturing production lines are heading back to the States en masse, but there aren’t enough trained techs ready to staff them. Baby Boomers—our proverbial Old Guard—are retiring, leaving unfilled jobs for the unskilled—and some say uninterested—masses.
Industrial manufacturing forecasts are optimistic according to PwC’s Q3 2013 Manufacturing Barometer, which surveys U.S. based executives in large multinational industrial businesses. Industries are hiring in a myriad of quality sectors including aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, green manufacturing and technology.