DETROIT – Demand for advanced manufacturing workers is continuing its upward trend as 2015 marked the state’s sixth consecutive year of employment growth in the field with nearly 700,000 workers employed – the highest employment number since 2006 and a nearly 30 percent increase from the middle of the Great Recession in 2009.
The new report is from LIFT – Lightweight Innovations For Tomorrow and WIN – Workforce Intelligence Network. The quarterly report highlighting the employment trends, top jobs, and required skills in advanced manufacturing, covers the five-state LIFT region of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.
“The continued growth in employment and job postings shows the continued demand from employers for workers with skills in advanced manufacturing,” said Emily Stover Derocco, education and workforce development director for LIFT. “Our goal is to make the U.S. the global leader in advanced manufacturing, which is something we can only attain if we close the skills gap between workers and the jobs needing to be filled. We will continue to work with industry members, our partners, educators and labor leaders to fill that gap.”
Throughout the five-state light-weighting region, advanced manufacturing employment increased by 75,674 jobs in the first quarter of 2016 over the fourth quarter of 2015. The largest jump in employment during that time was seen in Michigan with an increase of 28,344 jobs. Additionally, according to Michigan’s market report, online job ads for light-weighting-related occupations in Michigan jumped by 18.7 percent since December 2015, from 27,278 postings to 32,372 – 29 percent higher than the first quarter a year ago.
“Manufacturing demand and employment in Michigan continue to rise as the economy improves and employers expand operations here,” said Elliot Forsyth, Vice President of Business Operations, MMTC and member of the Michigan LIFT State Team. “That demand is further evidence that there are jobs and careers available for skilled, highly-trained workers right here in Michigan.”
The top five positions sought in Michigan job postings in the first quarter of 2016 were: General Maintenance and Repair Workers (3,564 postings); Laborers and Freight, Stock and Material Movers (2,823 postings); Mechanical Engineers (2,279 postings); Electrical Engineers (2,113 postings), and; Production Workers (1,606 postings).
The full Michigan report can be viewed at: http://lift.technology/educationworkforce-development/.
