Upskilling and Automation: Two Proven Solutions to the Labor Shortage

The widespread labor shortages in U.S. manufacturing mirror global challenges, ranging from negative perceptions of manufacturing careers to an expanding skills gap. Addressing these issues requires embracing automation technology and investing in workforce development initiatives like upskilling. Companies like Siemens, Rockwell Automation, and BlueBay Automation, and more are confronting these issues head on.  

The Challenge

There are hundreds of thousands of open jobs in manufacturing right now, just in the United States, and the shortage is getting worse, says Amanda Beaton, U.S. program manager, Siemens Cooperates with Education.

“Unless we do something differently, the U.S. economy alone stands to lose a trillion dollars in productivity by 2030. Companies just can't run efficient manufacturing lines if people aren't trained in automation technologies.”

U.S. manufacturers could need as many as 3.8 million new workers by 2033, but if current labor gaps remain unsolved, roughly 1.9 million of those positions could go unfilled, according to a 2024 report from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute. The report also found that while manufacturers need workers at every level, the most urgent requirement is for technical roles. It's a story repeated across the globe.

But there are reasons to be optimistic. Automation is a proven solution to labor shortages. It enables companies to plug labor gaps, boost productivity and throughput, and improve production quality.

Automation also needs people to build, deploy, program, and operate industrial robots. This means exciting new opportunities throughout the manufacturing sector from robot technician positions to mechatronics engineering roles. No surprise then, that the Deloitte report also found that companies are focusing more on upskilling workers in a bid to keep them on the job.

Amazon, for example, is investing more than $1.2 billion to provide free upskilling opportunities to more than 300,000 U.S. employees by 2025, to help further their careers in high-paying, in-demand roles from machine learning to mechatronics and robotics.

Upskill or Else

Upskilling and continuous learning are essential for the future of manufacturing, says Bernd Raithel, director product management and marketing, Siemens Factory Automation. Siemens’ SITecSkills Academy provides upskilling, reskilling, and degree programs relevant to the automation sector.

“Manufacturing in high-cost economies, such as the United States and Europe will always require a combination of people and automation. We all want to make more money at the end of the day and somebody programming a robot typically earns more money than somebody moving boxes around,” says Raithel.   

The skills gap is not limited to manufacturing workers, adds Raithel.

“There are skills gaps across all roles, from engineering, to construction, to machine builders, integrators, and maintenance and vendor operations. It goes across the board. A lot of automation engineers will be retiring in the next few years and there is a shortage of people to build, deploy, and operate robots.”  

Changing Job Requirements

The nature of automation and manufacturing jobs is changing as companies try to get the best from their people as well as their automation systems, says Kyle Crum, director, advanced technology, Rockwell Automation.

“Henry Ford’s assembly lines required humans to perform highly repetitious tasks all day. But that early vision of manufacturing didn't take advantage of the human's innate ability to solve problems. Today’s automation is focusing labor on these human cognitive elements and collaboration with the robotics system,” says Crum.   

Continuous learning whether through micro-certifications or longer programs has become part of the modern manufacturing worker’s job description, Crum adds.

“Upskilling programs don’t always have to take years, months, or even weeks to complete. Technical orientation on a new robot could take as little as eight hours. Introductory data literacy training, so workers understand the data pipeline in their facility, could take half a day. These don’t have to be massively time-consuming engagements,” explains Crum.   

“Micro-certifications” and “micro-credentials” might be fancy titles for what we’ve always called “on-the-job training,” observes Crum, who worked his way through college as a machinist before an eight-year stint in the U.S. Navy. But continuous learning is crucial in the fast-moving world of advanced manufacturing.

Rockwell Automation and ManpowerGroup co-developed the Academy of Advanced Manufacturing (AAM), a joint initiative to provide U.S. military veterans with training in advanced manufacturing roles. More than 80% of graduates have been placed in career-advancing jobs.

“The zero-cost program gives you all the fundamentals of our industry, trains you on non-militarized equipment, and allows you to walk into a plant as a technician. The main problem the AAM team has is that a lot of the veterans think it's fake, because it's such a good deal. It’s not fake. It’s a highly successful program.” 

Separately, in 2021, Rockwell Automation and FANUC America launched a coalition to provide people with accelerated work and apprenticeship programs for jobs in advanced manufacturing, robotics, and automation.

“The speed of technology change is increasing fast,” says Crum. “Your job title may stay the same, but your role will be changing quickly as those technologies are inserted. Upskilling will become so innate that we don't even think about it anymore. It will just be the nature of work.”

Underutilized Human Resources

Companies need to make more of their existing workforce, a key factor driving upskilling initiatives, says Pierre de Giorgio, president, BlueBay Automation. For example, CNC machine operators can spend 30 minutes or more idle while a machining process is completed.

“That’s a highly skilled individual whose potential is underutilized during those idle times. But if you put a cobot in front of that CNC machine, you can upskill that operator to program and manage the cobot, enabling them to oversee multiple CNC machines. Rather than adding headcount, you’re enhancing the skillset of someone already integral to your workflow, transforming them into a multi-machine operator who drives higher output while streamlining production.”

De Giorgio’s journey in automation began when he was sixteen, working alongside his father, who served as the general manager of a leading systems integrator. This early exposure to the industry not only honed his technical expertise but also sparked a passion for robotics and automation that led to the founding of BlueBay Automation.

“That practical knowledge is a key piece missing in many of today’s college programs. Graduates may understand the theory, but it can take years of hands-on experience to truly bridge the gap between knowledge and application.”

There are encouraging signs, however. “More schools and universities are listening to industry and bringing industrial robots and equipment into their labs. It’s going to take time for those efforts to translate into to widespread industry benefits, but it’s an incredibly positive trend.”

Bridging the Skills Gap

Siemens’ Beaton is tasked with bringing the technologies used in the global manufacturing environment into U.S. classrooms and labs. This means working with thousands of educational facilities from high schools, technical and community colleges, and universities through union training shops, adult learning centers, and everything in between.

“It’s about making these real-world relevant technologies available to students in any sort of training environment so they can build things and use tools they would see in industry,” explains Beaton.  

“Local, short term training entities really excel at upskilling local workers. In a very accelerated format, people can learn new technologies. And in partnering with local adult learning and technical colleges, companies are not only building a pipeline of talent for recruiting, but also helping with worker retention.”

One of Siemens’ most successful collaborations is with Alabama-based KTECH, which provides a hands-on, one-on-one instruction program in mechatronics. KTECH was founded to create opportunities for people aging out of foster care, military veterans, under-resourced, and nontraditional students.

Usability Enhancements Enable Easy Upskilling

The biggest “quantum leap” in the automation sector in recent years — and a key enabler of upskilling initiatives — is improved ease-of-use and the emergence of software designed to simplify the process of deploying automation for specific applications from CNC machine tending to welding, says BlueBay Automation’s de Giorgio.

“It's become incredibly easy to do. We can put a pendant in someone's hand and in many cases, within thirty minutes to an hour, they're able to program the cobot. Even using the word ‘program’ is a bit of a stretch because it's so easy to do.”

The rise of automation that is simple to program makes upskilling easier and enables manufacturers to address labor and skill gaps more quickly.

“Don’t be afraid of automation technology. Embrace it. It's not as difficult as you might expect to implement and maintain robotic cells. Those who adopt automation will see productivity gains, higher profit margins, improved ergonomics, and the ability to do more with less,” says di Giorgio.   

Upskilling Prospects

Upskilling in the advanced technologies future manufacturing requires not only provides lucrative career opportunities for people of all skillsets, it also helps address the existential labor crisis facing global manufacturing.

“I love the opportunity to take advanced manufacturing technologies and make it easy for any educator to navigate the technology and bring it into students’ hands,” says Siemen’s Beaton. “I think that's the value of what we do. I don't want to be hyperbolic, but it's addressing an urgent societal need, too.”