On October 11th 2022 Voovio invited manufacturers, thought leaders, workforce development professionals & academic institutions to join our very first “Skills Gap Summit” in Baton Rouge. All of these groups are affected by the same gargantuan manufacturing challenge: attracting new and skilled labor to fill the shoes of our older workforce who are near retirement after years of operating and maintaining our plants.
With experts and decision-makers from BASF, TESLA, Lyondellbasell, Halliburton, Shintech, ExxonMobil, Rice University, INEOS, Formosa Plastics , Baton Rouge Community College & many more under one roof we gathered inspiring insights and witnessed exciting discussions addressing this growing gap in the industry. After reviewing all of the presentations and audience responses during the sessions, the following 3 themes bubbled to the top:
The Challenge
The need for skills in manufacturing roles is growing fast. Studies show that retirements and a persistent skills gap could cause more than 2.1 million U.S. manufacturing jobs to go unfilled by 2030.
Key Discussion 1:
A question was processed during the Tabletop Exercise regarding the current demand and subsequent shortage of skilled workers in the Baton Rouge manufacturing region. Summit participants suggested several different agencies and associations that they thought were responsible, but none were conclusive.
Action
A team will be chartered the week of 11/23 to identify the correct inputs necessary to build and maintain an accurate forecast going forward.
Key Discussion 2:
During the session titled; “Skills Gap – Workforce Development Perspectives”, leaders from BASF and ExxonMobil shared their companies’ best practices, ranging from creating partnerships with post-secondary institutions to ensure that students graduate from high school with the preparation they need in getting the required skills to qualify for good jobs.
Action
Voovio will work with all of the presenters to get permission to disseminate their presentations to the general audience so that “best practices” can be leveraged.
Key Discussion 3:
During the afternoon session entitled; “Redefining training is essential to accelerate our transition to a sustainable future”, Tesla shared how they are deploying both automation and simulation to overcome the barriers caused by the skills shortage. One of their facility hires more than 100 people weekly and their team also shared that traditional training methods are not scalable and do not offer the level of standardization that they need to be successful.
Action
Voovio will work with all of the presenters to get permission to disseminate their presentations to the general audience so that “best practices” can be leveraged.
We would like to thank everyone who joined us and especially our speakers for the excellent information exchange and intelligence shared during the Summit!
Couldn’t make it, or missing it already? Either way, you can see more insights, our speakers’ presentations and photos of the Summit here.
