How Can the United States Prepare a Workforce for Advanced Manufacturing Using Robotics?

Many experts expect additional job opportunities in manufacturing as large numbers of existing workers retire and advancing technologies, such as robotics, create new positions not previously seen on the typical manufacturing floor. However, experts also warn that workers will likely need more-specialized skills to engage with advancing robotics and other technologies in manufacturing.

To assist workers and employers in preparing for this shift, RAND Corporation researchers conducted an Impact Analysis and addressed the following questions related to preparing a robotics-ready manufacturing workforce:

• What is the economic context of manufacturing using robotics?
• How are current education and training programs preparing people to work with robots in manufacturing?
• What practices might improve these programs and their desirable outcomes, such as a job-ready workforce?

To understand the nation's Advanced Manufacturing (AM) workforce development needs, particularly in the case of AM using robotics, the researchers first examined the economic context in which education and training programs in AM using robotics now operate. Then, they researched the number of related programs across the country and analyzed the curricular content and instructional practices of programs located in the Midwest and Pennsylvania, which are traditional hubs of manufacturing in the United States. The researchers' original data on program content and practices and their analysis of these data provided unique insights into how well current programs may address the potential skills gap in AM. Finally, researchers reviewed evidence on the efficacy of educational practices related to AM workforce and robotics training—some of which are currently in use by AM training programs. In combination, answers to these three research questions provide critical information for employers, educators, and policymakers to consider as they seek to enhance U.S. manufacturing competitiveness.

In conducting this Impact Analysis, researchers identified the following major findings and recommendations relative to the future of work as it relates to robots and jobs in manufacturing:

FINDINGS:

What Is the Economic Context of Manufacturing Using Advanced Technologies?

• U.S. manufacturing is currently growing jobs and becoming even more productive, but the United States is not adopting robots for Advanced Manufacturing (AM) as quickly as some other countries.
• The U.S. workforce needs to be ready to benefit from further adoption of robotics for AM.

How Are Current Education and Training Programs Preparing People to Work with Robots in Manufacturing?

• In higher education, a small but growing share of programs offer technician training for AM.
• Programs for AM using robotics vary with respect to flexibility in program duration, combination of certificates and degrees, and emphasis on industry.
• Most programs for AM using robotics emphasize technical and academic skills; nontechnical workplace and personal effectiveness skills are less emphasized.
• Many programs do not emphasize some of the technical skills that an AM technician will need.
• Work-based learning has not taken root in AM education and training programs.

What Practices Might Improve Education and Training Programs in Advanced Manufacturing Using Robotics?

• Manufacturing experts suggest that a variety of educational practices can help address worker shortages and skills gaps, but the efficacy of many of these practices is uncertain.
• The available evidence indicates that industry-based credentials, apprenticeships and perhaps other forms of work-based learning, and student wraparound support services are the most promising education practices for AM technician programs to date.
• The analysis indicates that not-so-promising practices include traditional online and boot camp courses and stackable credentials.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Emphasize nontechnical, "21st-century" skills.
• Bring more employers to the table via intermediary organizations and services.
• Conduct rigorous research on what works in education and training in AM and other critical industries.

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2020
• Author(s): Andrew, M; Marler, T.; Lastunen, J; Acheson-Field, H.; Popper, S. W.
• Funding Source: RAND Corporation: National Defense Research Institute
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Germell Hosch
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies