Area Development
The impending retirement of baby boomers combined with a shortage of qualified factory workers will combine to create a costly skilled labor shortage for U.S. manufacturers, according to a survey from Advanced Technology Services, Inc. (ATS). More than 80 percent of survey respondents said they would be affected by the shortage, up from 68 percent three years ago. Respondents calculated that the cost of the shortfall would average $52.2 million for companies with less than $1 billion in annual revenue and more than $100 million for the largest companies. Current industry forecasts indicate that during the next five years, approximately 40 percent of the skilled manufacturing labor force will retire. The survey, conducted by Nielsen Research for ATS, polled 100 senior manufacturing executives representing companies with annual revenues between $10 million and $1 billion.