Indiana Manufacturing Number one in direct employment Number one in gross state product Number one in wages Number one in benefits Accounted for 54% of state’s growth in past four years

Measurement Problems Temporary Workers: Temporary help workers are on payroll of temporary help agency, not the firm actually using their labor. Consequently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) establishment surveys do not assign them to industry they actually work in. Thus, the BLS time series counts of workers and hours supplied to firms in manufacturing sector understate their true magnitude. We estimate that direct manufacturing employment is understated by more than 15%. Outsourcing and NAICS Code Changes: Most non-core functions – Accounting, legal, governmental affairs, transportation, IT, security all being counted in other sectors

Issues Manufacturing history and image Negative generation caused by dreams of a service economy, layoffs, closings, offshoring, and world competition has led to a distrust of manufacturing as a career option. Negative generation has led to a two-fold problem. Younger workers looking elsewhere while the current manufacturing workforce ages. High wages are now correlated to knowledge Manufacturing now needs knowledge workers – increasingly more computer based

Issues The U.S. and Indiana’s planning and resources for preparing knowledge workers for manufacturing is fragmented, limited in scope and it lacks scale. (Major reason for the Career Council and Workforce Councils) The lines between knowledge needed by management and employees is increasingly getting blurred. Companies along with public entities need better strategies to coordinate training needs.

Recommendations Define the proper role of government, business, workers, parents & students Training programs should be market driven State needs to coordinate the data and make sure it is verifiable and sourced Fully develop the inventory of state’s current training programs and opportunities Develop searchable database/website for all Fully utilize job and training audit data to identify successful programs and programs in need of improvement, modification or elimination

Recommendations While STEM is critical we also need greater emphasis on job/task/machine specific skills K-12 needs to be better at preparing the future workforce and the connection between learning and earning Educators need to know what economic opportunities exist and bring employers into the classroom We need more internships and apprenticeships starting at earlier ages

Technical Education Outside US Best Practices Germany, Switzerland and Austria are considered best in class and do the following:  Early triage of students  Extensive internship or apprenticeship programs (classroom and on the job training)  Strong ties with employers  Cultural tradition that supports students going into industrial and technical fields

Recommendations Finally we need to get everybody on board with better communication, better coordination of resources and programming, and an extensive, ongoing public affairs and public relations campaign.