Workforce solutions: How manufacturers can navigate labor challenges

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Workforce solutions: How manufacturers can navigate labor challenges

27 Jun 2025

Maddie Lambert

Maddie Lambert is a copywriter and editor from Joplin, MO. She graduated from Missouri Southern State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English – literary studies. When she’s not poring over the magazine or lost in the pages of a new novel, you can find Maddie exploring her local bookstores, spending time with her husband, or sharing her latest literary discoveries with fellow book enthusiasts.

COCO BEACH, PUERTO RICO — The manufacturing industry is not a stranger to shifting business conditions. Manufacturers across the country face numerous new challenges each year; to address them, reliable teams are needed to carry out sustainable solutions.

But when the challenge itself is attracting and retaining a skilled workforce, companies need more than short-term fixes.

During BEMA Convention 2025, held June 25-28 in Coco Beach, Puerto Rico, Carolyn Lee, president and executive director of the Manufacturing Institute (MI), dove into how manufacturers are leading and implementing programs that build sustainable workforce pipelines to recruit, train and retain essential employees.

Filling open positions

According to MI’s May 2024 talent study, 4 million jobs will need to be filled over the next 10-year span; however, approximately 1.8 million of those will go unfilled.

“It’s not just about filling positions, it’s about upskilling the people you have,” Lee said. “That is part of how you’re going to keep your workforce and give them those next-level skills in order to retain them and stay competitive.”

Companies can reap the benefits of offering employees a well-rounded upskilling program, including job satisfaction, increased morale, higher productivity and reduced turnover. Building on technical, digital and soft skills is a process best accomplished when it meets employees where they are.

“[Upskilling] is how you’re going to keep your workforce and give them those next-level skills in order to retain them and stay competitive.” — Carolyn Lee | president and executive director | Manufacturing Institute

For most of the industry, digital culture is here to stay, so online learning platforms and hands-on simulations are the key to driving ROI, but above all, building a sustainable and resilient workforce starts with industry-wide teamwork.

“We have to work together,” Lee said. “We need to first grow talent, but the best person for that open job is probably someone you already have. They’re going to need more skills, more training. They’re going to need to understand why those skills and training are beneficial for themselves and the company.”

Methods of hiring

As commercial bakers and manufacturers navigate labor shortages, one method gaining ground in the industry is second-chance hiring.

Nearly one in four Americans has had some exposure to the criminal justice system, which has made securing employment challenging. Removing this barrier from hiring practices has seen dividends.

“We’re seeing 80 percent retention rates for companies who invest in the second chance workforce,” Lee said. “There are so many community-based organizations that work in the second-chance population, and these resources are readily available.”

Another avenue companies can consider is seeking out transitioning military members. Approximately 200,000 personnel transition out of the military each year, bringing with them a comparable skill set for the workforce.

“Jobs in the military directly correlate to manufacturing skills,” Lee said, “so we need to open the aperture and look at these competencies to see if that makes somebody available and ready to us.”

Open hiring methods grant businesses a wider talent pool to choose from. Tapping into a willing and able workforce allows companies to maintain a competitive edge in the labor market.

Early engagement

The process of building a future-ready workforce can also start with engaging the youth. Children as young as 9 or 10 can be introduced to the industry, which, according to Lee, is a crucial factor for retention.

“Those 1.8 million jobs I mentioned that are going to go unfilled in 2033? Today’s fourth and fifth graders are your potential,” she said. “We need to go in and start early, which I know can be hard for smaller companies that don’t have those engagement programs, but there are ways to do so. BEMA, other industry associations and business organizations can assist with engaging the younger communities and help them see there’s a future here.”

These proven collaborations and unconventional hiring practices will enable companies to navigate the fluctuating labor market. By prioritizing retention and engaging younger generations, industry members can shape the manufacturing talent pipeline and secure their position well into the future.

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