Manufacturing employers often cite challenges to finding and hiring a sufficient number of highly skilled and diverse workers, so it is important to understand how pathways into manufacturing and the retention of manufacturing workers may be improved. The authors of this report address this research gap by examining the pipeline between Ohio's…

The U.S. manufacturing industry is experiencing a resurgence and faces a growing need for highly skilled workers. Recent reports project that demand for highly-skilled manufacturing workers will outpace supply in coming years, and this shortage may grow as the U.S. manufacturing industry grows and its labor needs shift. Furthermore, manufacturing…

Displaced workers suffer large and persistent earnings losses. These losses can be mitigated by returning to school, yet the extent to which such workers enroll in post-secondary education in response to displacement is poorly understood. Using employer-employee-student matched administrative data from Ohio, we provide the first direct evidence of…

This chapter describes how Clark State Community College used its TAACCCT grant in manufacturing to help drive organizational changes in the college to better serve local workforce needs.

Stackable credential initiatives aim to build education and training pipelines in applied fields that allow individuals to earn educational certificates or other industry-recognized credentials and then build on these short-term credentials to earn additional certificates and degrees throughout their careers. Stackable credentials have the…

Instead of enrolling for four or more years to get a bachelor's degree, what if individuals could work their way toward a degree gradually? First, they would attend college or a trade school for six months or a year and earn a certificate that prepares them for an entry-level job in various fields. Then, they would pursue additional knowledge and…

Northeast Ohio is similar to the rest of the United States in that there is a rise in the need for the products that advanced manufacturers supply (Center for American Progress, 2013). However, advanced manufacturers in Northeast Ohio are unable to find the technically skilled workers to fill the jobs that are currently available in the workforce.…

The multigenerational workforce presents a critical challenge for business managers, and each generation has different expectations. A human resource management study of organizations with more than 500 employees reported 58% of the managers experiencing conflict between younger and older workers. The purpose of this single case study was to…

Advanced manufacturing is growing and thriving in the United States. Companies are in great need of reliable employees who can communicate well, effectively make decisions, and are interested in long-term careers with opportunity for advancement. Employers have identified a need for a more robust talent pipeline to narrow America's skills gap--a…

Manufacturers in the United States are struggling to recruit and hire high-skilled workers needed to maintain productivity and to compete globally. While the total number employed in the manufacturing sector is shrinking, the demand for high-skilled workers has increased. Community and technical colleges have traditionally been an important source…

This essay presents a case study of the modes used in training employees at a munitions plant in Ohio between 1940 and 1945. Theories of multimodal discourse and learning advanced by The New London Group (1996), Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuwen (2001) and Richard Mayer (2001) inform this analysis. With an unskilled labor force and many workers…

A school-to-work curriculum (What's Up in Factories?) developed by a New York PBS station is giving some Ohio students a view of factory careers in the 1990s. Students are surprised at the level of job skills needed and are discovering the importance of teamwork, willingness to take responsibility, punctuality, effective communication, and…

Addresses the Niles Firebrick Project, an outreach program from Youngstown State University that has traveled to nine schools in six Ohio school districts, with a majority of the classrooms visited in middle schools. Explains that the project centers on the use of primary documents about the Niles Fire Brick Company. (CMK)

A study ascertained training, retraining, consulting, and technical support needs of small manufacturing companies in Ohio. Data were obtained from nine service areas of Ohio's two-year educational institutions to determine what human, technical, and physical assets campuses should make available. A survey instrument was designed to provide…

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the status of technical training and the demand for technicians in the Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio metropolitan areas. Data from 99 randomly selected establishments indicated that 36 establishments employed or intended to employ technicians by 1975. Information was also collected from 109…