Tackling Instructor Shortages in Manufacturing

CINCINNATI, OH- On March 14th, 2025, a group of manufacturers, educators, and government officials came together to discuss an increasingly important issue. As America's workforce ages and prepares to retire, they risk taking decades of knowledge with them. The next generation of machine operators, welders, and maintenance technicians is ready to pick up the helm- but who will teach them the technical skills they need to keep the manufacturing industry thriving?

AMIP and the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) partnered to ask this very question. The organizations collaborated to bring a roundtable of 15 experts from the manufacturing industry, higher education, and state government to Vaco's Blue Ash office. Each participant brought their expertise, their concerns, and their industry's needs to the table.

Educators, manufacturers, and government officials discuss the issue.

The group started by naming challenges. It's difficult to convince manufacturing industry professionals to take a role in education that pays less than their current role. Even an industry professional with a passion for passing on their knowledge might not know where these roles exist, and what steps they would need to take to fill them. Furthermore, an excellent manufacturer doesn't necessarily make an excellent instructor- teaching requires a deep understanding of learning processes, classroom management, and the ability to break down topics in different ways. Whose responsibility is it to instruct the instructors?

Figuring out where the issues originate helped lay out the groundwork for potential solutions. All three categories of attendees- manufacturers, educators, and government- shared programs and opportunities that the others had no idea existed. Clearly, communication and awareness should be a priority. There will also need to be a variety of pathways for industry professionals to join the education field, accompanied with hefty support to remove barriers for potential instructors. Industry professionals will also need to be fairly compensated for their work and for the high level of knowledge and experience they bring to the classroom.

The roundtable comes up with solutions as the sun rises over Blue Ash, Ohio.

The team brainstormed thirteen actions that Southwest Ohio could take to make instructor positions visible, fair, and enticing to industry processionals. These included building relationships between local manufacturers and schools, supporting project-based learning in career technical education, and bringing educators into manufacturing sites to learn from industry. By ranking each idea on an effort versus impact matrix, the group determined that the most impactful action for its effort would be to connect manufacturers and educators to increase awareness on both sides and build the relationships necessary to address the instructor shortages issue. You can download a full report of the thirteen solutions and how the participants prioritized them here.

AMIP and ODHE are committed to a connected, collaborative network of manufacturers, educators, and local government in Southwest Ohio. Manufacturers who want to join the effort can sign up to host Educator Externships here. Instructor shortages in the manufacturing industry affect outcomes for all of us, and it will take all of us to build an interconnected community strong enough to not only solve shortages, but to make our region's manufacturing education an example across Ohio and across the nation.

AMIP Cincy would like to thank the Ohio Department of Higher Education and everyone who participated in the roundtable discussion. Our heartfelt thanks also go to Vaco for graciously hosting the meeting.

To learn more about AMIP Cincy and manufacturing workforce initiatives in the greater Cincinnati region, visit amipcincy.org.

For media releases and questions, contact AMIP Education Manager Rachel Farnsworth: rachel.farnsworth@amipcincy.org.