The challenge for employers in manufacturing jobs is hiring workers with the right skills. A reported 90 percent of manufacturing companies have said they struggle to fill available positions. To help combat the epidemic, the National Association of Manufacturers recently announced a campaign to raise at least $10 million for the newly established Creators Wanted Fund to inspire Americans to pursue careers in manufacturing. NAM and the Manufacturing Institute will bring a Creators Wanted mobile tour to parents and students in 20-25 U.S. states, unveil a yearlong nationwide digital campaign to recruit new talent, and host a Making America festival in Cincinnati, Ohio, in September 2020 to showcase the future of modern manufacturing.

"With a record number of job openings right now—and many more expected over the next decade—the future of the manufacturing industry will be tied to the future of its workforce," says Manufacturing Institute Executive Director Carolyn Lee.

NAM also has promised to train more than 1 million manufacturing workers during the next five years, joining numerous organizations in signing the Trump administration's Pledge to America's Workers.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 509,000 manufacturing jobs were open in May 2019, which marked an all-time high for the sector, and the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte project that more than 2 million manufacturing jobs could go unfilled by 2028.