Reprint from American Fastener Journal, November/December 2019

In recent years, the universal chorus of manufacturers across the country seems to be how they are going to recruit new members to their team to keep up with new openings and backfill the exodus of an older workforce that is quickly retiring. To their chagrin, they have learned that even if they have a good solution to this first challenge, other, often more imposing challenges quickly follow suit. Once they have new team members aboard, they find themselves challenged to bridge an ever-widening skills gap. As a result, workplace development in the form of education and training has become increasingly more important.