What is the Skills Gap and The Impact on Manufacturing and the Economy

Although the Manufacturing Report on Business, compiled by the Institute for Supply Management, showed a modest improvement in manufacturing conditions in the United States in August, the highly watched employment component declined by 1.1 points to 53.3 in August, still indicating growth but at a slower rate than before.

Steve Norall

Sept. 7, 2016

2 min read

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Some economists and thought leaders in the space of manufacturing blame this slow growth on the hotly debated manufacturing "Skills Gap" with some sources stating there are 3 Million jobs unfulfilled due to the skills gap, yet others say 600,000 jobs are only truly unfulfilled because of the skills gap, and some, as stated by the Boston Consulting Group report, say there are only 80,000 to 300,000 manufacturing jobs.

What is the Skills Gap Anyway?

ACT put out a great study on "A Better Measure of Skills Gaps" offering the very simple definition of a what is the skill gap, stating: the difference between the skills needed for a job versus those skills possessed by a prospective worker. They go further to specifically define the skills gap in manufacturing as: the majority of U.S. examinees are not able to demonstrate the required skill level for locating information. This skill involves the ability to locate, synthesize, and use information from workplace graphics such as charts, graphs, tables, forms, flowcharts, diagrams, floor plans, maps and instrument gauges.

As I was reading my daily blogs about the manufacturing industry, I came across a great infographic by way of the "Made In Dayton" Blog (which I HIGHLY suggest you subscribe to to get a pulse on the Ohio state of manufacturing). It was made by WorkBoots.com and is titled "America's Skills Gap". It gives a great outlook on answering "What is the Skills Gap in Manufacturing?"

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