As Baby Boomers increasingly leave the workforce over the next decade for retirement, the next generation of workers will need to take their place. In past blog posts, we’ve discussed many methods of attracting Millennial workers to manufacturing. But that’s only half the puzzle.

You are aware that most often an employee onboarding process can be overwhelming both to the organization and the new employee. Onboarding is often filled with bureaucracy and tedium at best and, at worst, is an experience so unpleasant that it contributes to high employee turnover.

 You know your students and children best. Maybe you have one who you believe could flourish in STEM. You’ve watched their skills development journey, and found them to be a curious person (always taking things apart and putting those things back together again) or technologically adept. Perhaps they work well in teams or are always looking for a more efficient way of getting jobs done.

Promoting the history of manufacturing is a great way to help people see where manufacturing comes from and help them imagine themselves as a member of the workforce. As one way to reach people with this information, consider sharing blog posts, e-books, or social media posts about some of the great people in manufacturing history.

Women account for 48% of the Canadian workforce, but only 28% of the manufacturing workforce. This job rate share hasn't changed for 30 years, according to Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME).

One of the Eastern Ontario Manufacturing Workforce Development Plan (EOMWDP) mandates is to educate the eastern Ontario community about the vast opportunities in manufacturing. When we make manufacturing accessible to youth, we help them see themselves in this exciting world of technology and innovation. 

Upskilling your manufacturing employees is essential in an increasingly technological world. Manufacturers in the Quinte region have communicated their need for talent that can work with and repair computers. 

Many job seekers worry about the future of technology, and how the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) will affect the number of available jobs. While pictures like this robot can make it seem that we are creating machines to replace humans, the majority of real-world applications are more similar to the picture below of a person assisted by software on a laptop.

Process control engineering is the 8th most popular manufacturing job in eastern Ontario, according to data collected by the Eastern Ontario Manufacturing Workforce Development Project (or EOMWDP for short).

One of our goals with this blog is to help manufacturing employers in eastern Ontario connect with the next generation of workers, a generation that some employers may feel completely out of touch with. That’s why we’re always on the lookout for big cultural hits that can be used to help young people see that manufacturing is an exciting industry full of opportunity. This time we’ve come across a particular item you might be interested in: a graphic novel all about manufacturing.