Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesEngineering & Construction

Lower the Skills Gap in Manufacturing Through Technology

Innovation is an ongoing process and technology has made huge leaps in just the last 20 years because of that. Knowing how far technology has come and how simple it can be, why has nothing been done in the manufacturing space to lower the skills gap? Quality Digest says that we are “in the…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Engineering & Construction teams put it to work with Partner & Channel Enablement.

·
Share

Free workspace

Turn your Engineering & Construction expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.

Try it Free

 
Innovation is an ongoing process and technology has made huge leaps in just the last 20 years because of that. Knowing how far technology has come and how simple it can be, why has nothing been done in the manufacturing space to lower the skills gap?

Quality Digest says that we are “in the age of high-definition video games, social networking, and phones that have more capability than your five-year-old laptop”. As technology advances, it is also becoming more user friendly, meaning less training is necessary to understand how to properly operate the technological tools used at our disposal. However, despite technology being more operable and providing a chance to lower the skills gap; the same level of training that has always been required, is still needed to get a manufacturing job.

Tom Kelly, guest expert on DisruptED and Executive Director & CEO of Automation Alley, where you’ll find the World Economic Forum’s US Centre for Advanced Manufacturing, feels that manufactures can lower the skills gap and make manufacturing more fun.

Tom’s Thoughts

“The manufacturers today, and that tends to be my… occurring in all industries, Industries, built business models around technology as it existed over the last 20 years. And so, you require lots of education to understand and digest that technology and that’s the skills gap that we talk about.

Well wake up everybody, because today technology, is easy to understand. If you take a person that says, well, I don’t know how to run a CNC machine, but I can navigate a cell phone and play all kinds of video games and I can do everything, I can… really complex. Shame on the manufacturers for not getting together and say, listen, we gotta make manufacturing fun.

We gotta make it so that I can plop somebody in a VR environment and play a game around. Program, a CNC machine and say, look, if you figure out how to make a key and that key in your virtual world can unlock this door, that door leads to $5,000 and a job with us. Kids would be playing that all day long.”

Click here to view the full DisruptED episode and article.

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Engineering & Construction starts with a company putting its project engineers, superintendents, and estimators on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Owners shortlist firms they already trust, and your field leaders become the reason your name is on that list.

Book DemoSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.
B2B Weekly

The week in Engineering & Construction, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Engineering & Construction: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Engineering & Construction buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free Trial

You just read one Engineering & Construction expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your project engineers, superintendents, and estimators into the articles, video, and social content Engineering & Construction buyers are searching for. Start a free trial and see it with your own people. For qualifying companies, no credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What your free trial includes

Hands-on access to the MarketScale platform
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
No demo required. No credit card.
For qualifying companies. Company confirmation required.

More Engineering & Construction Insights

North Texas Data Centers Boom, Mechanical Trades Constrain

North Texas Data Centers Boom, Mechanical Trades Constrain

Mechanical trades now shape liquid-cooled data center schedules

  • 01DFW data center construction faces mechanical workforce constraints
  • 02The mechanical trades sector plays a critical role in AI infrastructure deployment timelines

Nov 2, 2026

Brock's 3D scaffold model replaced 1,400+ standby hours with <25

Brock's 3D scaffold model replaced 1,400+ standby hours with <25

Brock Group executives Enrique Zavala and Brent Roscoe argue scaffolding belongs in the BIM model from the start of an industrial project. BIC Magazine reports one Brock 3D model replaced more than 1,400 budgeted standby hours with under 25 hours of rework. Peer-reviewed studies support BIM-based planning and forecasting, while noting scaffold modeling and laser scanning still demand specialized skills.

  • 01On one three-month project, BIC Magazine reports, a Brock 3D scaffold model left one minor field change and under 25 labor hours of rework against more than 1,400 budgeted standby hours.
  • 02A 2017 IAARC paper found scaffolding is usually left out of the BIM model, and a June 2024 MDPI case study found scan-to-BIM needs specialized equipment and skills, so the gains are not automatic.

Nov 2, 2026

CivDot robots shift surveyors to control and spot checks

CivDot robots shift surveyors to control and spot checks

On robotic layout jobs, the surveyor's work shifts to setting control and spot-checking the machine's marks.

  • 01On robotic layout jobs, the surveyor keeps the control network and the spot checks, the two tasks that decide whether thousands of machine-set marks are right.
  • 02Autonomy is most advanced offshore and underground, where work is risky and costly; routine low-risk jobs are adopting it more slowly.

Nov 1, 2026

Explore More Engineering & Construction Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Engineering & Construction.

Browse Engineering & Construction Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Engineering & Construction and beyond.

Book a Demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512