How to Make Manufacturing Day a Year-Round Event

It’ll be here before you know it—Manufacturing Day 2018 officially arrives on Friday, October 4, 2019. This annual celebration gives small and medium-sized manufacturers across the country an opportunity to showcase their products and capabilities to students, educators, businesspeople, politicians, and the media. The goal?

To spread the word about the importance of manufacturing, the benefits it brings to our country, and career opportunities within the industry.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

But does it really make a difference, our more skeptical readers may be thinking. The answer is a resounding yes! Manufacturing Day has been attracting more and more people every year, with the official events growing over 1,000 percent since its inception in 2012. Even more inspiring? A Deloitte survey of nearly 270,000 students participating in 2016 revealed that:

• 89% were made more aware of manufacturing jobs in their communities
• 84% were more convinced that manufacturing provides careers that are interesting and rewarding
• 64% are more motivated to pursue careers in manufacturing

With results like this, it’s time to begin making your Manufacturing Day plans. But why stop at just one day? Consider making it Manufacturing Week, or Manufacturing Month. Better yet, practice Manufacturing Day year round!

Celebrating Manufacturing Day Year-Round

What makes Manufacturing Day so important to the growth of our industry? Currently, nearly one-quarter of manufacturing employees are age 55 or older—and these individuals will soon be heading toward retirement. To offset their impending exit, it’s critical to bring in new talent.

Here are three ideas that may help you attract the next generation of workers while making Manufacturing Day a year-round celebration:

1.  Partner with local schools and colleges. Speak with leadership and career advisors at local schools and colleges about hosting small groups of students for interactive talks and tours, or participate at student organization events with a focus on new technologies (sure to be of interest to this tech-savvy generation).

Schools offering manufacturing curricula or STEM-focused classes are an ideal target; there’s also Project Lead the Way, a nonprofit providing transformative engineering and technology learning experiences for students in grades K-12. They have hundreds of participating schools throughout Greater Philadelphia and encourage you to find a school in your area and make connections.

CMTC will also be actively helping to partner manufacturers and schools so that students will have the opportunity to attend various Manufacturing Day events.

2.  Implement an internship program. Reach out to local high schools and colleges to offer internships to those with technical aptitudes; this will allow young people to see the “real world” of manufacturing and help to dispel the myth that all factory work is “dark, dirty, and dangerous.” As a bonus, their bright young minds may come up with innovative new ways of doing things on the factory floor!

3.  Network. Millennials (born 1980-1994) and Gen Z (born 1995-2014) are recognized for their social media sharing and connecting. Use this to your advantage! Ask millennials that you hire to recommend friends in need of a job, and offer to let a friend shadow them for a day to get an idea of what the job is all about (what employee wouldn’t want to hang out with a friend while at work?). Before you know it, you could be trending on Twitter!

Registration for Manufacturing Day Starts Soon!

The opportunity to make a difference, inspire the next generation, and grow your business is near. While we encourage you to make Manufacturing Day a year-round event, we’ll keep you posted once official registration begins, offering tips and resources along the way. Want to see what all the excitement is about? Check out our recap of the 2017 event and view a short video here. Looking forward to a successful, fun, and game-changing MFG DAY 2018!