This week our President and CEO Scott Whitlock had the opportunity to sit down with Inside INdiana Business’ Gerry Dick and discuss a few topics both are very passionate about – workforce development and STEM education. (See the video interview above.)
As a company built around solving complex IT and automation engineering obstacles for advanced manufacturing, being a champion for promoting STEM education just comes naturally for Flexware.
In recent years, trying to find highly skilled engineering talent has become increasing more difficult nationwide; like trying to find a needle in a haystack. According to a survey by the National Manufacturing Institute, The Skills Gap in Manufacturing 2015 and Beyond, over the next decade nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will need filled, but 2 million will go vacant.
As an advocate for engineering within manufacturing, our team is uniquely placed to be able to take action and make a difference in closing the skills gap. We are actively working to help top talent stay within our state and stop exiting for employment in more competitive states. Additionally, we are building up the next generation of engineering talent through our Dr. Theodore J. Williams Trailblazer Engineering Fellowship.
Through this unique program with are actively recruiting and training top engineering talent from area high schools and universities in order to build the engineering talent of tomorrow. By nurturing the best of the best with real-life manufacturing experiences, we are helping develop a workforce primed to be able to meet business needs of workers with robust technical, math, computer and problem solving skills.
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2 Comments
Without question Flexware is doing all the right things in the development of talent, now and for the future. It’s awesome to see homegrown Indiana companies taking the skills gap very seriously. I also take a proactive role in providing STEM education to middle school kids. I’ve been able to start 3 FIRST Lego League teams within the school. It’s so rewarding to have the “lightbulb” moments with them and to see them grasp a never before explored concepts in programming, engineering and technology. I’d love to talk more with Flexware about this program and see how we can kick it up a notch for the kids.
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