Advanced manufacturing employment in Indiana now features more than 540,000 workers employed in the sector, the highest employment level since 2001, according to a new report from Detroit-based LIFT—Lightweight Innovations For Tomorrow, a Manufacturing USA institute.
Employer demand spiked in Indiana, growing by 30 percent between the second quarter of 2018 and third quarter of 2018. There were 37,384 job postings during the third quarter, which is up nearly 50 percent since 2012 when analysis began.
The quarterly reports, highlighting employment trends, top jobs, and required skills in advanced manufacturing through the third quarter of 2018, are completed with research and analysis from the Workforce Intelligence Network of Southeast Michigan (WIN) and Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.
“As demand for advanced manufacturing jobs continues to climb, the need for talent development in Indiana and the rest of our nation is imperative,” said Emily DeRocco, vice president education and workforce, LIFT. “Developing new ways to address these workforce needs by engaging both industry and academia will be the key to our country’s long-term economic prosperity.”
The top in-demand lightweighting-related occupations in Indiana for the third quarter included:
- Maintenance and repair workers (4,737 postings);
- First-line supervisors of production and operating workers (3,724 postings);
- Industrial engineers (3,363);
- First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors (3,240);
- Laborers and freight, stock and material movers (2,248 postings).
LIFT and the Indiana Manufacturing Competitiveness Center (In-MaC)—an initiative of Purdue University in partnership with Ivy Tech Community College and Vincennes University—recently launched LIFT’s MakerMinded program in Indiana. The program expands students’ and schools’ access to world-class advanced manufacturing and STEM learning experiences through a digital platform and student competition.
