During her trip to Wales, Jan Griffiths took a call from CBS Detroit to weigh in on tariffs. That conversation led her to a bigger question: even if we bring manufacturing back to the U.S., do we have the workforce to support it?
This led to this conversation with Torsten Schimanski, the Chief Strategy Officer at NJMEP, who’s spent years addressing the talent gap in U.S. manufacturing.
In this episode, Torsten explains that millions of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. could go unfilled in the coming years, and current efforts to address this issue will not be enough to close the gap.
The industry is facing decades-old perceptions of manufacturing work, a massive generational exit, and the reality that most companies don’t have a clear talent pipeline or long-term plan. Torsten doesn’t just see this as an HR problem. He sees it as a supply chain issue.
So, he introduces an innovative approach: apply core supply chain tools—demand planning, sourcing, supplier management—to workforce strategy. That means forecasting the skills you’ll need, identifying where you’ll get them, and making retention a priority before it becomes a crisis.
Torsten also criticizes the passive mindset that waits for the government or outside forces to “fix” the problem. In his words, if you’re waiting for someone else to build your workforce, your business might not be around much longer.
He’s clear about what will happen if we don’t take action: production delays, rising costs, quality issues, and constant turnover. Even automation won’t save us if no one’s trained to run or maintain the machines.
This isn’t a future problem. It’s already here. And if manufacturing companies want to survive the next decade, they must take ownership of workforce development—starting now.
Themes discussed in this episode:
- The workforce shortage threatening the future of U.S. manufacturing
- Why manufacturing workforce development needs a supply chain strategy
- The effects of baby boomer retirements on manufacturing labor shortages
- How outdated perceptions of factory jobs affect workforce recruitment
- The business risks of ignoring workforce development in manufacturing operations
- How to apply supply chain strategies to manufacturing workforce planning
- How NJMEP supports small manufacturers with workforce training programs
- Why manufacturers must lead workforce development—not wait for government solutions
Featured on this episode:
Name: Torsten Schimanski
Title: Chief Strategy Officer at New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program (NJMEP)
About: Torsten is the Chief Strategy Officer at the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program (NJMEP), a nonprofit focused on supporting and advancing manufacturing in New Jersey. Prior to joining NJMEP in 2017, he led the Training & Learning Center at Festo Didactic, a global leader in industrial automation and education, and worked internationally as a business consultant specializing in leadership and workforce development. His contributions have earned him the 2017 Impact Award from the New Jersey Technology and Engineering Association and, with the NJMEP PEN-Team, the 2021 Excellence in STEM Education Award from the Health Care Institute of New Jersey.
Connect: LinkedIn
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