Mark Muro is the author of the Brookings Institution’s latest report on advanced manufacturing which we blogged about here. He is also Industry Week’s Manufacturing Leader of the Week and we are urging you to read his interview over at Industry Week.
Here are a couple of excerpts from his Industry Week Interview to convince you to read the full interview;
- “The advanced (manufacturing) sector is where we can see the promise of the U.S. economy. The virtues of the advanced sector are what we want more of for our economy.”
- “They are the single most important source of innovation.
- “These industries dominate the private sector expenditure on R&D.
- “They provide 60% to 70% of exports.
- “These are the most highly productive industries we have at a time when there is a lot of concern about drifting productivity in the country.
- “And because of this, they also pay well. There is a wage premium for people of all education levels. Half the people in the advanced industries don’t have a college degree, yet they are enjoying those wage premiums too…
“Advanced manufacturing is innovative, it’s productive, it exports, it pays well and it is inclusive.”
“Your report mentions an inclusive benefit to advanced manufacturing. Why that conclusion rather than manufacturing will become the realm of a technical elite?
“Upskilling is happening in the advanced manufacturing sector. It is not sufficient to just show up at the plant and do the same thing all day for 250 days a year. It is a more collaborative, more creative and more technical set of activities. That doesn’t mean that one has to have a college degree. Employees will require a modicum of digital skill. So much of this is about automation, computerization, CNC operation and so on. But remember that we have a lot of people retiring. There is going to be demand for workers to staff what are going to be highly productive and hopefully growing industries.”
There is much much more to this interview about workforce development, policies, and local impacts. Go to Industry Week Interview to get the complete story about advanced Manufacturing impacts.
Thanks Industry Week for this insightful, make-a-difference coverage.