Manufacturing Day Results Are In
Led by The Manufacturing Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers’ workforce and education partner, Manufacturing Day shows students what a career in modern manufacturing looks like. Throughout October, manufacturers throughout the nation hosted more than 3,000 MFG Day events, and more than 325,000 students, teachers and parents participated.
Manufacturers continue to cite struggles with finding talent. To help solve the workforce crisis, manufacturers open their doors on MFG Day to showcase their facilities and the changing nature of jobs to help shift perceptions about the sector as a career.
On social media, the event accumulated a record-setting 200 million impressions and 163,000 engagements, including posts from influencers. The event also generated $1.1 million in earned media.
The Manufacturing Institute conducted a survey of attendees and hosts to help gauge the impact of MFG Day. Going into the events, 21.4 percent of students participating in an MFG Day event said they had no familiarity with manufacturing. But after attending an event, approximately 90 percent of participants said they were more familiar with manufacturing, and 72.4 percent said they now believed that manufacturing provides an interesting and rewarding career. Moreover, 63.2 percent were more inclined to tell friends, family members or others about manufacturing as a career, with half of the attendees suggesting that they were motivated themselves to pursue a career in manufacturing.
“The modern manufacturing industry simply isn’t the one our grandparents remember. The career opportunities it offers today are increasingly high-tech, high-pay and—as thousands of students and parents discover for themselves each MFG Day—pretty fun too,” said Carolyn Lee, executive director of The Manufacturing Institute. “This year’s MFG Day was another great success. I’m grateful to the many manufacturers, educational institutions and other partners across the continent who not only opened their doors but helped open minds as a result.”