MANUFACTURING AMERICA’S WORKFORCE
The National Association of Manufacturers estimates that by 2025, manufacturers in America will need to fill more than 4.6 million high-skilled jobs. Two million of these jobs are expected to go unfilled due to the skilled trade gap. Creating workforce development initiatives to reskill employees is part of the solution.
STIHL Inc., located in Virginia Beach, VA, uses a multifaceted approach to close the skilled trades gap. While automation is key to remaining competitive in the global market, at STIHL Inc. no full-time employee has ever been replaced due to automation but is instead retrained. In addition to reskilling employees, STIHL supports manufacturing career training and workforce development through several initiatives including: a Manufacturing Technology Summer Camp, held annually at the STIHL manufacturing facility to introduce high school students to careers in manufacturing, a Dual Enrollment Program through a partnership with the local public high schools and community college, sponsorships of local STEM education programs and the STIHL manufacturing apprenticeship program that’s been in place for more than 35 years.
The STIHL Inc. commitment to these initiatives creates opportunities for people like Bradley Holmes, a manufacturing technology summer camp participant, who went on to complete his associate’s degree in Mechatronics and graduate from the four-year STIHL apprentice program. Bradley now works as a full-time mechatronics technician at STIHL Inc. ensuring the assembly line keeps running to produce more than 80 models of products that are built in America.*
Bradley’s story is a great example of how a company can invest in America’s workforce to bridge the skilled trade gap in U.S. manufacturing.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO ADDRESS AMERICA’S SKILLED TRADE SHORTAGE, VISIT STIHLUSA.COM/STIHL-BUILT-IN-AMERICA.