For the past two years, leaders of manufacturing companies around the globe have expressed a growing concern about their organizations’ inability to get skilled, in-demand talent. In our 2020 Executive Perspectives on Top Risks survey, conducted by Protiviti and NC State University’s ERM initiative, board members and executives from the manufacturing and distribution (M&D) industry group identified the inability to attract and retain top talent as their second most significant risk issue, falling just below economic conditions.

This article describes the workforce challenges of the manufacturing industry and provides four approaches that should be considered as solutions.