Breaking down the state of manufacturing

National Association of Manufacturers President & CEO Jay Timmons joined Yahoo Finance Live to break down his thoughts on the manufacturing labor shortage.

Video transcript

SEANA SMITH: Fed Chair Jay Powell noting in his press conference just a few hours ago about the shortage that we're seeing in available workers. Now, we know that this is a problem across many sectors. One sector in particular that's being hit hard by this is the manufacturing sector. So we want to talk a little bit more about what's being done to hopefully correct this issue.

We want to bring in Jay Timmons. He's the National Association of Manufacturers president and CEO. And, Jay, it's great to see you again. We spoke about a month ago regarding this issue. And I know that there hasn't really been much progress made over the last couple of months, really across any sectors. What's your latest effort to curb this?

JAY TIMMONS: Yeah, well, as a matter of fact, over the course of the last month, we got some really bad news. And the news was that we have 851,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs today. That is the largest number that we've ever had in the history of this data.

And because of studies that we've done with Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, we're showing that there could be 2.1 million jobs unfilled by the year 2030. A lot of that is because we don't have people with the right skills. Sometimes we have perception problems.

And one of the things that we're doing right now to correct that, as you can see right behind me here, is this is the virtual-- or pardon me, the mobile experience for our Creators Wanted campaign. We're going to be all over the country talking to young people, and their parents, and educators about the great benefits that a manufacturing job can have and how it can empower not only individuals, and their families, and their communities, but also really improve quality of life for all Americans. So we're excited to get on the road, but we're also doing this virtually as well, Seana.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Jay, there are a couple of different things that are coming your way. And by the way, it's good to see you. One, we've got 15 million Americans who are no longer going to be eligible for unemployment, extended unemployment benefits come September. And yet these manufacturing jobs, which, in many cases, can be very high-paying, very well-paying jobs, require skills that some of those 15 million may need to obtain. So is there any kind of work being done to get people up to speed? Because, again, these are jobs that pay a lot better than $15 an hour.

JAY TIMMONS: Yeah, they sure do. The average wage for the manufacturing sector is about $82,000. It's the highest average wage of any sector in the economy. And, Adam, we're working diligently. We have been for many years. The pandemic really didn't change that equation.

Manufacturers are stepping up to provide training opportunities not only for those who are looking for work but also for those who have manufacturing jobs now. Because we want to be able to upskill our workers. Everything's changing every day. Technology brings all kinds of new challenges and all kinds of new opportunities. So we are working to upscale our workers and future-proof the jobs that exist in manufacturing today here in America.

Why do we do that? Well, it's pretty simple. The more manufacturing capabilities we have in this country, the more manufacturing jobs we have, the more products that are made here in the United States. And it's good for the country, and it's good for the economy.

SEANA SMITH: Jay, you mentioned you're reaching out to or trying to reach out to 15 to 20 million parents, students, emerging workers out there, people who would be eligible to enter the workforce and to start, potentially, a manufacturing job. What do you think is the biggest, I guess, misconception out there about the manufacturing industry these days?

JAY TIMMONS: Well, it's pretty simple. Everybody has a different view of manufacturing. Some people have absolutely no view of manufacturing or have no clue what it is. So I'm actually here in Dallas, Texas, today where we have retrofitted this semi-trailer. It's a triple-wide. And if you go inside, it's just this incredible, gamified, virtual experience that really gives young people an idea of the skills that are necessary for a job in manufacturing.

And you come out. You can't see it here. But on the other side, there will be a lounge. This is all just kind of in the conceptual phase. We're just retrofitting-- or outfitting this. On the other side, there's a lounge where folks are going to be able to meet with-- let's call them "counselors," so they can understand exactly what opportunities are available in manufacturing. It's really-- it's such a cool experience.

But the real problem, Seana, is this. You know, my grandfather stood in line for six months during the Great Depression to get a job in manufacturing. That was 80 years ago. The manufacturing of my grandfather's day is nothing like manufacturing of today.

Today's manufacturing is sleek. It's technology-driven. It's very, very exciting. When I've been able to speak to groups of students, and I've said, how many of you have thought about a career in manufacturing-- and you can hear crickets, like literally not one hand goes up.

And then I pull out this. And I say, how many of you would ever like to be the person who invents the next great innovation that changes the world for the better? Every hand goes up. And I just have to remind them, my gosh, well, that's what manufacturing is.

And so when you get young people to understand and you get their parents to understand what manufacturing is all about, they get really excited about being a part of that and about creating their own future. That's what the Creators Wanted campaign is all about, Seana, and it is really telling the story of manufacturing to attract more people into our industry and bust through those perception problems that we've had.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Hey, Jay, real quick. In high schools across the country, isn't this the message that should be delivered? I mean, you had me at $82,000 a year, which is a lot more, by the way, than base salary for journalists in New York City at union scale. So--

JAY TIMMONS: Yeah, no, high schools, secondary schools, and even as people are starting to leave high school and decide whether do I want to go to technical school, community college, other institutions of higher education, giving them this opportunity to see what manufacturing is all about is critical.

We are in high schools all over the place. We have something called Manufacturing Day the first Friday of October where we open the doors of literally thousands of manufacturing facilities across the country and allow young people to see what manufacturing is all about, students, teachers, parents. We hosted before the pandemic about 600,000 students a year to do exactly what you're talking about.

We're going to scale that up as well, Adam, because it's so important that young people know that there are many options and opportunities, different pathways to success. Sometimes that involves a four-year institution. Sometimes it involves a two-year institution. Sometimes it involves simply a high school degree.

So we want to make sure that young people understand there are so many options out there. There's so many opportunities for great careers. And manufacturing should be right at the top of their list.