Supply Chain Jobs and the Skills Crisis
by Carol Miller, MHI Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Former President of the National Association of Manufacturers Jerry Jasinowski recently wrote an article on the Huffington Post on the manufacturing and skills crisis.
This is a topic MHI has covered extensively in MHI Solutions and in our 2014 MHI Annual Industry Report. In fact, MHI CEO George Prest has said that “training and retention of workers is the most important issue facing this industry.”
In the article, Jasinowski discusses the need to get the public school system active engaged to help solve the skills gap. Here are his recommendations:
1) Accelerate our efforts at basic K-12 education reform and improvement.
2) Revise the curricula of our K-12 schools to prepare young people for real life jobs.
3) Take a serious look at ensuring that students have the personality traits and the fundamental discipline to be productive employees. This includes a focus on discipline, teamwork, group communications, being reliable and punctual, respecting others, showing initiative, and having a positive attitude.
On his third recommendation, MHI’s Technical Career Education Program (TCEP) recently released a new volume in its Fundamentals of Warehouse & Distribution series titled “Developing Your Soft Skills – Making a Successful Leap from the Classroom to the Workplace” that focuses on just that topic.
This book was written to prepare students for a job in the manufacturing and supply chain workplace and help refine the skills that will help you succeed and grow your career. The goal of this volume is to familiarize students with soft skills such as time management, creative problem-solving, organization, self-discipline and relationship building.
