Manufacturing’s Workforce Growth, Skills, and the Role of MACNY and MTI
Randy Wolken, President & CEO

Manufacturing’s workforce story is now an execution challenge: growth is returning in parts of the industry, but companies will capture that growth only if they can find, prepare, and retain people with the skills modern operations require. The latest national data show employment rising while employers continue to report a substantial number of open positions. For manufacturers, that combination matters because workforce capacity is becoming a direct constraint on output, modernization, quality, and customer responsiveness. The workforce question is therefore not simply how many jobs exist. It’s whether companies can build the capabilities their operations increasingly require.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that manufacturing employment increased by 9,000 in September 2026 and stood 72,000 above its recent low in December 2025. In August, the most recent Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) available, manufacturing employers reported 522,000 openings. That was below July’s 576,000, but above the 416,000 openings reported in August 2025. These measures describe different things: payroll employment counts people at work; JOLTS openings estimate positions employers were actively seeking to fill. Together, they point to an industry adding jobs while still recruiting at scale.

This is a signal of opportunity, and a warning about execution. The sector is investing in new facilities, modern equipment, automation, digital systems, and more complex production. Those investments create demand across a range of roles: technicians, machinists, maintenance professionals, engineers, quality specialists, production leaders, and workers who can combine practical judgment with data, automation, and problem-solving. Workforce planning must therefore be tied to business strategy rather than treated as a separate human resources activity.

For members, workforce capacity directly affects revenue, output, technology adoption, quality performance, and customer commitments. A vacancy can slow a production cell, a shortage of technicians can delay equipment installation or maintenance, and a lack of supervisors prepared to lead change can limit the return on new technology. When many firms pursue similar talent at once, competition can drive up recruiting costs and make retention more difficult. Smaller manufacturers especially may feel this pressure sharply because they have less capacity to recruit continuously or build needed training resources on their own. Waiting until a critical role is vacant or an expansion is underway turns a manageable workforce issue into an operational constraint.

The response can’t be recruitment alone. Employers need to make the work and career path visible, connect earlier with students and job seekers, and create routes for people who don’t arrive with every required skill. They also need to invest in incumbent workers. Training can help an experienced employee move into a higher-skill role, help a new hire become productive sooner, or prepare a team to use new equipment safely and effectively. Clear expectations, supportive supervision, learning opportunities, and a credible future also strengthen retention.

This is where the MACNY, the Manufacturers Association, and the Manufacturers Training Institute (MTI) can help members turn a broad workforce challenge into practical action. MTI develops and delivers workforce programs, including pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship pathways that connect learning to real manufacturing jobs. These approaches help participants build foundational and occupational skills while giving employers a structured way to grow talent. Registered Apprenticeships, in particular, allow learning to happen alongside work, with competencies and progress made visible over time.

MACNY helps members identify training needs, strengthen the skills of current employees, and connect company demand with educators, workforce partners, and grant-funded programs. The value is more than a generic course catalog; it is employer-led coordination, shared training capacity, and practical pathways that smaller firms could not build alone. MACNY helps translate a production or growth need into a learning pathway: who must learn what, by when, with which equipment or standards, and how the company will know the training worked.

The employment and openings data should prompt members to act before a critical vacancy or expansion makes the need urgent. Identify the roles that constrain growth, define the skills behind them, and distinguish skills that can be taught from those that must be hired. Look at succession and cross-training, then build relationships with MACNY and MTI and other partners around a specific pipeline and upskilling needs. This is where, as your partner, we can excel.

Manufacturing’s opportunity will be measured not only by investment announcements or jobs added, but by whether companies develop the people who make productivity, quality, innovation, and growth possible. Members know their operations best. MACNY and MTI can help them act together: expanding access to talent, making training more relevant, and creating pathways into rewarding manufacturing careers. The workforce signal is clear. Now each member should identify priority roles and skill gaps and engage with us to help convert that need into a practical pipeline, apprenticeship, or upskilling plan. When we do this collectively, we build robust delivery systems needed for success. Starting now, giving the evolving environment is key!