VIDEO: A Look at the Acceleration of the Workforce 2030 Dilemma

Marion Wells, the founder and managing director of Human Asset Management, chats with me about COVID-19’s impact on the workforce and about the importance of succession planning.

Transcript

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Christina Fuges

I'm Christina Fuges with MoldMaking Technology and I am here with Marion Wells, the founder and managing director of Human Asset Management. We are going to talk about the impact of COVID-19 on the workforce 2030. First, what is Workforce 2030?

Marion Wells

I call 2030 the big disrupter.  In 2030 a lot of economists have been talking about how population is going to change and what's going to happen with the baby boomers. The last baby boomer turn 65 in 2030. So there's this notion that the intellectual property within your manufacturing companies is going to slip away. Plus, you have the onset of automation, AI and everything that comes with smart factory digitalization.  We have all this conversion of technology and we're losing the IP that can really help the younger people understand how to make the conversion to new technology.

Christina Fuges

It was bad enough when we talked about 2030 two years ago.  But now Covid has accelerated everything. Can you explain what you are seeing and hearing with regard to this acceleration of change.

Marion Wells

Well, 2030 is here now. That's what COVID did for us. Anyone who had the ability to retire, retired and left the industry leaving a really big gap in the know-how talent coupled with remote work and people having time to reflect about their work and then make some hard decisions based on family.

Christina Fuges

We've talked a lot recently about how human resources and your marketing strategy now factor into a strategy to approach 2030. Tell me about that.

Marion Wells

Harbor Results surveyed manufacturers. One question was: Do you have an HR representative in your company? 36% said, “No, we don't.” If they don't have an HR person, nine times out of 10, they don't have a marketing person. We are convinced that these two leadership positions need to be in your organization, in order to help you work on your external brand. It is also important to match it to your internal brand. HR should work together with marketing to create the messaging, so you can attract the talent that you want in your organization.

Christina Fuges

If there is one an actionable item that you could give people who are watching this, what's the first step to taking on HR or marketing?

Marion Wells

Talent is going to be the key in 2022.  I just recently got certified as a talent acquisition specialist with Predictive Index and shops NEED to have a talent strategy to build a talent pipeline. So, think about what you want in your organization and think about succession planning, because those are going to be critical going forward within the next couple of years.

Christina Fuges

Thank you, Marion, for all that insight.