Making Gen Z a priority in manufacturing

Metal manufacturing and skilled trades like welding need to continue to work at making metalworking careers appealing, rewarding, and engaging enough for the next generation to jump in more freely. Getty Images

I have always been fascinated with the various generations, what qualities each possesses, what their commonalities and differences are, and how each can affect how a person from one generation communicates with someone from another.

So I was interested to hear Sarah Sladek’s session titled “Leading an Inter-Generational Workforce” during the 2021 FMA Annual Meeting held virtually in March. Sladek is the CEO of XYZ University, a firm with the mission to bridge generation gaps, improve teamwork, and retain young talent.

Sladek outlined the events that have shaped individuals from each generation and discussed how that manifests in the workplace. One thing she said that caught my attention was a bit about Generation Z, people born between 1996 and 2009. She said this generation loves a challenge, likes working with their hands, and strives to be in work environments that are different (i.e., not an office settingM). They witnessed firsthand the millennials’ financial struggles and they don’t want to repeat those mistakes.

Sladek said this is great news for manufacturing. The industry has a golden opportunity to attract members of this generation who are currently entering or gearing up to enter the workforce because it so closely aligns with what Gen Zers are looking for in a career. They want different; they want to make a difference; they aren’t afraid of difficulty.

Ray Dick of Project MFG knows all too well the importance of attracting individuals to pursue careers in the skilled trades. It’s much more than an issue of building or improving infrastructure, performing structural work, or even mass-producing metal goods; it’s a matter of national security. That’s why he’s pouring his energy into creating programming to entice young people—Gen Z—into the skilled trades.

And it’s more than just hooking them in. It’s important for employers, big and small, to keep them engaged and make them feel valued so that they stick around and not jump ship to another career. The best way to do that, said Sladek, is to have conversations and build relationships. Yeah, it’s that simple. Employee engagement is the outcome of building an organization that is exciting, fulfilling, meaningful, and fun, she added. This is entirely possible whether you’re a three-person custom weld shop or part of a 25+ person weld team at a large manufacturer.

There is still the matter of parents and middle school and high school leadership teams putting the same value on skilled trades as they do on college degrees and providing curriculum and opportunities for young Gen Zers and beyond to see things like welding up close. That requires Gen X and older millennials to examine the flaws of the college-only path. Millennials, who Sladek describes as having rocky transitions from college to the job front due to the recession in the late 2000s, who were/are riddled with debt as a result, have firsthand experience as to why that’s a dangerous mindset.

What will the next generation look like? I’m not sure we know that yet. But, hopefully, metal manufacturing and skilled trades like welding step up and make these careers appealing, rewarding, and engaging enough for the next generation to jump in more freely. Otherwise, we’ll be taking steps backward.