Labor Leads Tech Revolution
If we want digital transformation to take hold in the manufacturing industry, we must consider how people, process, and technology work together, hand-in-hand. It sounds simple enough, but it’s not. We need to be careful to consider all three, and not just simply turn to technology to plug a hole or solve a problem in one of the other areas. This seems to be where manufacturers are investing millions only to find out later—even sometimes much too late—they needed to consider the importance of three in tandem.
Perhaps one of the biggest hurdles today is the “people” side of the equation. We all know there is a skilled labor shortage in the manufacturing industry. But what do those words really mean? In fact, numbers are downright scary. We also all know the labor market is the key to the next era of digital transformation. Let’s take a look.
The Problem
The manufacturing industry is expected to reach a critical shortage of 3.8 million workers within the next decade. According to L2L’s latest study, 75% of respondents have observed a noticeable lack of skilled workers in the market in the past year, while 46% reported significant resignations within their organizations during the same period.