One of the ironies of U.S. manufacturing today is that, even as the number of manufacturing jobs continues to fall, experts foresee a critical shortage of manufacturing engineers in the near future.
That’s because, as the Baby Boom generation of engineers prepares to retire, U.S. schools are not turning out enough young engineers to replace them. In a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers, 84% of respondents said K-12 schools are not adequately preparing students for the manufacturing workplace.
Later this summer, the Automation Federation, in cooperation with the Boy Scouts of America, will take a stab at helping to close the expected shortage of manufacturing engineers. Recently, the Boy Scouts announced that the Automation Federation, a professional association, will be among several organizations to present career information to scouts attending the organization’s 2010 Boy Scout Jamboree.
The goal, Automation Federation officials say, is to interest boy scouts in careers as manufacturing engineers.