U.S. Manufacturing at 'Frontier' of Aging American Workforce: Why That's a Problem

A Manufacturing Institute study found the U.S. manufacturing industry could be especially affected by the aging workforce, reports Fox Business . The average age of a manufacturing-sector employee as of last year was 44.1, versus 42.2 for the U.S. overall. Difficulties attracting younger workers to manufacturing play a role in this trend, as does a skills gap stemming from an aging population and a tight labor market. This gap is worsened by the continual introduction of new technologies, which demand ongoing training. "Taken together, these manufacturing-specific factors indicate that the manufacturing sector is at the frontier of the aging workforce trend," the researchers noted. "An older-than-average workforce means that the sector is witnessing the effects of workforce aging earlier than many other industries." Manufacturers said they were mainly concerned with the erosion of institutional knowledge along with veterans who may retire without passing that knowledge on to their replacements.