Any reader of this magazine can immediately tell you — backed by data or anecdotes — that the manufacturing industry is hurting for workers, be that the entry level operator or highly educated engineers. Yet, as McKinsey & Company notes in a May 2024 article (www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/from-hire-to-inspire-getting-and-keeping-gen-z-in-manufacturing), “Gen Z workers say they’re open to jobs in manufacturing, (but) manufacturers are filling only six out of 10 job openings.”
Where is the disconnect?
First, we’ll look at it from the workers’ perspective. The internet and social media are full of articles, blogs, posts, and videos of younger generations bemoaning the job market, the inability to get a job in the field they studied for or have experience in, the abysmal application process, and the lack of flexibility and worker-friendly policies. As the aforementioned McKinley article notes: “What manufacturers are ‘doing wrong’ with Gen Z employees is just a symptom of what they have been doing with their employees more generally, often for decades. Their standard move was to offer more money.” Money is important, but not as much as it was for Baby Boomers. The article continues, noting Baby Boomers placed wages as the No. 1 factor to choosing a job; for Gen Z, it was the No. 6 factor.
Then what does motivate Gen Z? McKinley reports two common factors, both ranked top-three in terms of importance:
- Security in their physical environment and a respect for their contributions.
- The job makes a difference in their personal lives or to the world at large.
A more cynical person may shrug these reasons off as being too soft or too idealistic, but they are both things manufacturers can easily capture.
We’ll start with the latter of the two Gen Z factors: making a difference. For readers of this magazine and members of my company, the American Gear Manufacturers Association, this is an easy homerun. Gears propel the world forward, from medical equipment that saves lives to machinery that can provide the world with clean energy to the cars we drive. Gen Z may be dreamers to a fault, but manufacturing has always been in the business of turning dreams into reality.
The former factor is a bit harder to assess, but McKinley provides a pivotal explanation here for employers and supervisors: “Specifically, Gen Z wants to know that they can make mistakes, learn, and still have a chance to develop their skills for long-term career growth.”
Skilled labor, which manufacturing falls under, has always been a bastion of apprenticeships, which complement this Gen Z factor perfectly. They provide an approachable entry point (i.e. no five-year experience requirements for an entry level position) and job security, as well as a forgiving environment designed to teach important skills without punishing mistakes.
Even if apprenticeships are not viable for your company, it is imperative trainers and floor supervisors be on board with providing a nurturing environment, as younger Millennials and Gen Z may prefer to avoid conflict — from an outside perspective — to almost absurd degrees. As a younger worker myself, it is common to hear stories about people in at-will employment states that just stop going to work when something bad happens, a boss is being terrible, or the like. In the online sphere of social media and a job market where applying to a job often doesn’t result in so much of an application-received email, this is called ghosting and is normalized across an entire generation.
This is a drastically different mindset to approach workers with, particularly to those that are used to “toughing it out” and expect others to do the same. Younger generations do not feel this way. To adapt, companies need to be proactive, not reactive, in making sure Gen Z is feeling, as McKinley said, secure and respected.
Upcoming Event
2024 Fall Technical Meeting
October 7-9 | Rosemont, Illinois
Each year, authors selected by AGMA write technical papers on topics relevant to the gear industry. These may include subject matter related to: design and analysis; manufacturing and quality; materials, metallurgy, and heat treatment; operation, maintenance, and efficiency; and gear failure. The papers go through a double-blind peer review process in order to ensure the efficacy of the research. The authors present the results of their work at the FTM to an audience of knowledgeable international engineering professionals. During a Q&A period at the end of each session, authors and attendees are able to exchange their ideas. Full registration includes PDF copies of all 2024 FTM papers.
To register, go to www.agma.org/event/2024-fall-technical-meeting-ftm.
Upcoming Education
Reverse Engineering
August 14-15 | Live Online
This course will discuss the basic types of reverse engineering projects (e.g. upgrading an existing system to increase power or extend operating life or improve noise level; replacing a gear that has simply reached the end of its otherwise successful useful life; emergency, short term, interim gear replacement resulting from an unexpected failure; responding to a system that is not providing acceptable performance, etc.). The need for understanding the operation of the system in which the gears will be used, the conditions that led to the need for the project and, especially, the specific nature of the failure that occurred, if that is the reason for the project, are key and often ignored elements of the process.
How to Read & Interpret a Gear Inspection Chart
August 20 | Live Online
This online seminar is intended to provide you with a thorough understanding of the information contained within a typical gear-inspection report. Specifically, we will look at the contents and meaning of the information contained within the gear charts, as well as the techniques used by the gear measurement system to assess gear quality. An explanation of basic gear measurement techniques, how measurement equipment and test machines implement these techniques, and how to interpret the results from these basic measurements will be covered. We will also discuss how to interpret the results and what corrective actions may be considered if the quality of a particular gear is unsatisfactory.
Design Basics for Spur & Helical Gears
September 10 | Live Online
Learn how to develop and understand customer gear drive application specifications and target performance expectations. Review, calculate, and select basic gear terminology variables and design parameters that define tooth bending and contact rating safety factors on two real-life examples. Learn how to optimize gear fatigue safety factors for a given target design life and fit new gear designs and ratios into existing center distance using profile shift. Use commercially available software to develop gear-geometry factors and calculate and optimize gear set power density and performance. Review common gear failure modes if the design or final accuracy does not meet application requirements. Discuss time and cost of more than 20 other gear-drive component functions and drive-development steps through prototypes to shipment of compliant assembled production drives. There will be an opportunity to discuss gear-design challenges, which may be unique to participant industries.
Basic Training for Gear Manufacturing
September 16-20 | Chicago, Illinois
Learn the fundamentals of gear manufacturing in this hands-on course. Gain an understanding of gearing and nomenclature, principles of inspection, gear-manufacturing methods, and hobbing and shaping. Using manual machines, develop a deeper breadth of perspective and understanding of the process and physics of making a gear as well as the ability to apply this knowledge in working with CNC equipment commonly in use.
For a full list of the 2024 courses, go to: agma.org/events-education/upcoming-courses.
Calendar of Events
August 14-15 — Basic Gear Inspection for Operators — Chicago, Illinois
August 14-15 — Reverse Engineering — Live Online Course
August 15 — Sound & Vibration Committee — Webex
August 20 — Cylindrical Rating Committee — Webex
August 20 — Bevel Gearing Committee — Webex
August 20 — How to Read & Interpret a Gear Inspection Chart — Live Online Course
September 5 — Metal 3D Printing Committee — Webex
September 10 — Design Basics for Spur & Helical Gears — Live Online Course
September 10 — IIoT Committee — Webex
September 11-12 — Flexible Couplings Committee — Chicago, Illinois
September 16-20 — Basic Training for Gear Manufacturing — Chicago, Illinois
September 17 — Robotics & Automation Committee — Webex
September 24 — Wormgearing Committee — Webex
September 26 — Electric Drive Technology Committee — Webex
