Manufacturing a Response to COVID-19
The COVID-19 crisis has put a spotlight on the essential role of manufacturing in the U.S. As they respond to shortages of disinfectants, protective gear, and medical devices, U.S. manufacturing workers are saving lives. As they produce the goods that support sheltering in place, working from home, e-learning, and a lot more home cooking, they are helping to flatten the curve.
According to the Institute for Supply Management’s March manufacturing index, COVID-19 has slowed a two-month period of manufacturing growth. But many experts predict that the sector will see fewer layoffs than other industries. That’s because prior to the pandemic, the industry faced acute shortages of skilled workers and many employers invested considerable sums in training their workforce — a workforce they want to retain.
For manufacturers deemed non-essential who have had to temporarily shutter their operations, the impact of COVID-19 will be more severe. For others, there will be some contraction due to disruptions to exports and imports or lower demand caused by shelter in place mandates. For manufacturers producing goods that are critical to combat the virus, there will be new pressures to maintain or increase production, while instituting measures to protect the health of their workforce that necessarily slow down production.
How can the manufacturing industry best position itself to survive this crisis and keep its workforce whole? How can the industry help drive growth that will contribute to economic recovery once the virus is contained? One important part of the answer to both questions is investing in the skills of manufacturing workers.
In the latest episode of National Skills Coalition’s Skilled America Podcast, I talked to two manufacturers — Traci Tapani and Mike Tamasi — who haven’t stepped away from training their workforce during the crisis even as they have stepped up to develop, produce, and ship critical parts and supplies in our country’s time of need.
Tapani, owner of Wyoming Machine, a precision sheet metal fabrication company in Stacy, Minnesota, said, “We don’t know how long this is going to last and we don’t know from day to day what could happen. I’m a real believer that when it comes to skills training and trying to get people up to speed to do the work that needs to be done, you can never let your foot off the gas pedal and you have to keep moving forward.”
Just last week, while Wyoming Machine was working to double their annual output of a critical part for producing respirators, Tapani had 3 employees start an on-site virtual blueprint reading class and one begin a manufacturing leadership class through a local community and technical college partner.
Mike Tamasi, president and CEO of AccuRounds, a precision machining company in Avon, Massachusetts, had a similar message.
“If we don’t have the proper training support, we won’t survive,” he said. “It’s a matter of survival. Ensuring that we have a workforce of the future. So the training has to be constant. It needs to be coordinated and continuous.”
For manufacturers like Tamasi and Tapani, producing essential goods in a crisis while shifting how and when they produce goods to comply with Center for Disease Control guidelines, skills training remains essential. For manufacturers shifting to produce new products that can help respond to COVID-19, cross-training and upskilling are essential in their ability to pivot. And for manufacturers facing a slowdown in demand or a mandate for their workforce stay at home, down time can be virtual training time. It can help avert layoffs while developing a workforce that will be better positioned to help the company recover or grow when the crisis passes.
Conrad Leiva with the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute posed a question during the organization’s recent COVID-19 webcast. “Before going into this, we had a skill gap in manufacturing,” he said. “What if we came out of this period of crisis and the skill gap was gone. It’s an important time to think about re-skilling and cross-training the workforce.”
Unfortunately, small and mid-sized manufacturers — who are the linchpins in essential supply chains and in local labor markets — can’t do this on their own. They need the federal government to be a partner.
For manufacturers facing immediate needs to upskill and re-train to respond to the crisis, tax credits that reward investments in training can empower them to do so. In addition, emergency federal investments in workforce training coupled with investments in digital learning skills, access and capacity could help address acute skill shortages in firms that are essential to responding to the crisis.
For manufacturers facing slowdowns or shutdowns, the federal government can be a partner in averting layoffs and using down time as training time. Federally funded work sharing averted half a million layoffs over the last decade. An emergency expansion of the program could shore up the weekly pay of employees at firms that need to cut hours, while using the reduced hours for upskilling.
Amidst ongoing shortages of the essential goods that we need to disinfect our spaces, protect frontline workers, and treat those who fall ill, the COVID-19 crisis has put a spotlight on the essential role of manufacturing in the U.S. And the men and women putting their health at risk every day to go to work and produce these goods are among the legion of heroes who have been unmasked by the crisis.
“Our heroes here at Wyoming Machine don’t necessarily wear capes and they don’t have college degrees. Maybe a few of them do but a majority do not,” said Tapani. “They’re here every day wearing work boots and safety glasses and a lot of times they have calloused hands, but they’re heroes nonetheless.”
The question remains, however, if Congress will step up and help the manufacturing sector respond to and survive the pandemic by investing in these heroes.
Tapani is hopeful.
“I’m hopeful that when things return to normal, the importance of manufacturing and skilled men and women working in the industry is not going to be forgotten until the next time something bad happens,” she said. “We have to invest in the skilled workforce that we need in the US so that we can continue to supply the products and offer the services that people need to lead safe, happy, healthy, productive life.”
Tamasi agrees that we can’t only pay attention to our skilled worker needs in moments of crisis. “We need more consistent, long-standing policies and investment in training.”
