Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1531663
Marcy's Musings by Marcy LaRont, I-CONNECT007 Fueling the Workforce Pipeline Workforce, workforce, workforce. It's a topic of conversation in manufacturing that occurs nearly as oen as discussing quality and reliability. Finding good employees has always been a challenge, but the manufacturing indus- try has failed more spectacularly than most to draw new workers into the fold. In a domestic culture that has diminished the importance and relative social standing of manufacturing jobs, we now stare down a gaping hole where a ready, skilled next-generation workforce should be. It's estimated there are 67,000 unfilled technical jobs in the U.S. semiconductor sector alone. In short, we are doing a lot of catch-up. In this issue of PCB007 Magazine, we look at fueling the workforce pipeline with perhaps some unique and unconventional approaches. We start with an interview with Lisa Burns, CTE coordinator of the Fremont Unified School District, who's excited about her deep involvement with local industry in Silicon Val- ley and the district's Project Lead the Way pro- gram. Cory Blaylock, director of workforce partnerships at IPC, shares the progress and success of their partnership with Stephen F. Austin State University and how they hope this partnership will inspire other institutions to do the same. Perhaps most fun for me was my discussion with Michael Nager, an advo- cate and author who has written a children's book focused on 6–8-year-olds that introduces not just manufacturing, but Smart manufac- turing. His book provides an excellent example of the kind of out-of-the box thinking required to bridge the workforce chasm. 8 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2025