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More manufacturers should expand their recruitment strategies to include people with disabilities as they navigate worker shortages, experts said during a July 22 Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability webinar.
The number of open jobs in the manufacturing sector has remained consistent for about 10 years, said Jordan Morang, director of workforce innovation and policy at the Manufacturing Institute.
May job openings in manufacturing increased about 32% to 529,000 compared with 401,000 openings during the same period last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ job openings and labor turnover survey data released June 30. The employment index remained in contraction, registering at 49.7%, up 1.1 percentage points from May’s figure of 48.6%, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Managers’ Index June report.
The openings have “kicked sectors into gear” on workforce development, prioritizing training, hiring and employment as manufacturers recognize they need a strong workforce to be “economically viable,” Morang said.
