几年来，制造业高管一直因工人短缺而失眠. 然而，这种情况只会继续加速. 今天, the worker deficit has begun hitting companies squarely in the bottom line --during the first quarter of 2019 more than 25% manufacturers had to turn down new business opportunities due to a lack of workers, 根据全国制造商协会(NAM)的一份报告，

为什么没有足够的工人?  对于这个问题，公司、倡导团体和美国政府最常见的回答是.S. 政府认为这是一个基本的技能差距.  Workers just don’t have the skill set it takes to operate in today’s high technology 制造业 workplace.

为什么工人没有合适的技能?  有些人会说，如果这个领域支付更多, 它会吸引受过必要培训的工人. 如果是工人，要么是高中毕业生, college or others looking to get into different careers -- were paid a good wage there would be plenty of available talent. 

但这种观点对马克·穆罗来说过于简单化了, 布鲁金斯学会高级研究员和政策主任.

穆罗说:“我们的雇佣模式非常陈旧. “Our structure is left over from the days of the great American century where we dominated world economies. 大规模生产是常态，大多数人一生为一个雇主工作. “

在这个模型中，培训和再培训几乎没有那么重要. 但, Muro注意, “over time that’s changed and we are looking at a much faster change in technology with an accompanying change in skills needed. 但我们还没有创造出真正反映当前需求的新系统.”

最大的变化发生在经济衰退之后. 当制造商重新站起来时，他们投资于自动化和技术. 当被解雇的工人希望回到这个行业时, they did not have the skills for the changed job descriptions that demanded much more than pre-recession requirements.

随着制造业就业岗位开始回升——截至2019年1月，这一数字为12个.制造业有8400万个工作岗位——填补这些岗位变得更加困难. 据NAM称，目前有超过50万个制造业职位空缺.

仅仅将人才短缺归咎于缺乏技能，虽然这是对的，但并不能说明问题的全部. 除了工资问题及其对现有工人的影响, 还有一个稳定的问题. Since 2000, the sector has lost five million workers, mainly due to plants closures and offshoring. 甚至在2019年，通用汽车(General Motors)等工厂也在关闭，导致大规模裁员. 从一个潜在员工的角度来看, 这一切都表明，在制造业开始职业生涯有很多风险.

“制造业存在严重的认知问题,卡罗琳·李说, 不结盟运动制造研究所所长. 除了不了解这个行业的经济因素, she points out that “many young people just don’t know what is happening inside these plants -- they don’t realize that it’s a high-tech industry with great career potential.”

罗克韦尔自动化的首席执行官Blake Moret对此表示赞同. He feels that the education system is missing the mark by not offering up the field as a good career, 认为高中过于注重把学生送到四年制大学.  而, 他建议, 他们需要教育学生拥有高中学位可以获得的机会, 或其他两年制课程或认证.
 

“Students should not need to feel that a four-year bachelor’s degree is the only cost of entry to the workforce,他说.

And he’ll go toe-to-toe on pay as well: “The reality is that there are good paying entry level jobs with paths that provide almost limitless opportunity including the ability to advance quickly.”

技术弥补差距

对工人进行新技术培训是许多公司关注的重点. 霍尼韦尔技术 is using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to help companies onboard and 火车 workers.

这些特殊的技术, 与智能可穿戴设备相结合, 使知识能够以新的和有效的方式被获取和转移.

“我们从不同的角度看待员工的技能,埃里克·塞德尔说, 战略副总裁兼首席营销官, 霍尼韦尔技术. “我们有些员工即将退休，这将消耗公司的大量知识. 还有一些在我们公司工作超过15年的员工需要学习新技能. 最后，我们有年轻的工人，他们可能只呆几年.

“而不是传统的课堂学习, AR and VR allow someone to actually perform the task and therefore the learning curve is much faster,他补充道.

Speeding up the learning curve is especially important since younger workers are not willing to spend the 15 years of 火车ing it used to require to be competent at performing some of these jobs.

Wearables is another form of technology that transfers organizational expertise directly to a technician while on the job. 例如, 如果一个员工在现场操作一个设备, AR/VR培训可以为需要做的事情提供帮助.

“我们通过员工的头盔向他们提供实时视频流, 背心或安全帽,赛德尔说. “这就像有人在你身后看着你，他是一个主题专家.”

塞德尔说，这正在改变该领域的工作方式. 根据需要提供专业知识, 过去需要将近一年的训练，现在只需要四分之一的时间. 

“Digital 火车ing is especially appealing to millennials who grew up with technology and want to have that an inherent part of the job that they are doing,塞德尔说. And the ability to 火车 using AR/VR has helped the company increase the retention rate of the younger workers.

这种学习方式的另一个吸引力在于它提供了实时反馈.

 “传统上是有人在野外工作, 修复了一个问题，但并不总是知道结果，直到它在以后的日期测量,赛德尔说. AR/VR技术可以提供即时反馈，这对年轻员工尤其重要.

除了这项技术, 模拟结果是另一种缩小技能差距的培训方法.

“想想一个飞行员，他通过模拟各种可能发生的问题来学习,萨默·福兹利说, Simutech多媒体的首席执行官.  “我们正在为工厂车间做同样的事情.”

模拟是刷新和提供新技能的绝佳工具. “老一辈人有行业经验，但并不总是掌握最新的技术技能. 而年轻的工人是技术本地人，但没有多年的现场经验.”

材料的呈现是这个应用程序工作的关键.

 福尔兹尔说:“这种情况不是人为的. “当我们提供模拟工作时, 尤其是年纪大的, 我每天都知道, there is an instant trust built that allows workers to move past their comfort zones and adapt the new technology.”

And the formatting of the simulation -- which is similar to gaming -- appeals to the younger workers. “We have heard of cases where employees are doing these simulations at home after hours as it become addictive,福尔兹解释道.

The major benefit of this 火车ing is to teach skills that often hard to learn in school settings or through assessments. 通过模拟可能出现的情况，员工正在学习解决问题的技能.

Yet another advantage this system offers is that it can be used to assess the skill level of incoming employees. This provides both a better match of people to specific jobs and to learn what gaps exist and then provide 火车ing to overcome those gaps.

填补缺口的国家战略

而公司正在投资现场技术来提供培训, they are also investing heavily in apprenticeship programs as a tool to teach the skills needed in digitized 制造业. Many companies have used programs that employ high school students and pay them for the work while they earn a variety of degrees.

在全国范围内, these programs have gone a long way toward bringing in needed talent and simultaneously ensuring workers enter the workforce with the necessary skills. 

“Apprenticeships are one proven way for both students and working professionals to build new-collar skills — not just in technology, 但是跨行业,Ginni Rometty说, IBM首席执行官, 今年1月，他在CNN的一篇专栏文章中写道. 数据显示，91%的学徒在完成课程后找到了工作, 这种模式应该以比现在更快的速度扩大.”

为了加快进程，她提出了一项全国性的计划. “没有一家公司能够推出足够多的学徒计划来解决美国的技能挑战,罗睿兰写道. “Businesses' shared goal should be to create a national corps of skilled workers to fill millions of open new-collar jobs, accelerate American innovation and expand economic prosperity — especially in communities that feel tech has left them behind.

”在一起, 我们将帮助缩小我国的技能差距, build a pipeline of talented workers to thrive in technology's fastest-growing fields and restore trust in tech as a force for good,罗睿兰说.

科技行业对这一挑战做出了响亮的回应. 2019年国际消费电子展, 17家企业成立了CTA学徒联盟, 吸引了像IBM这样的制造业巨头, 和福特.

美国.S. government is also involved in these efforts through the Department of Labor’s apprenticeship program, 公司的工作项目包括哪些认证, 数控机床操作员, 机械师, 维护和修理, 机电一体化技术, 模具制造商, 焊工等. 2017年，特朗普政府设定了4个目标.到2022年增加500万学徒.

罗克韦尔自动化公司的Moret指出，学徒制是一种解决方案，但并不是万灵药.

这包括高中实习、两年制课程等. 莫雷特还认为，教育必须更加灵活.

他说:“我们的理念是为教育设置多个上下匝道。. “人们的生活环境导致他们早早进入职场, 但他们需要回去接受额外教育的能力. This is important since careers could last 40 years and there is a need to have the ability to get different amounts of education.”

改革教育, 改善培训和学徒计划将对解决技能差距大有帮助.

但 it just might be Moret’s view of how to attract workers to the industry that will turn out to be the key to solve the worker shortage.

他说，人们在工作中感到快乐有三个要素:

他说:“你所做的工作必须是重要的，必须服务于更大的利益。. “You need tools and support to do a good job and you have to have a chance to move forward and progress in your career.”