EXCERPT: “According to the tenth annual State of Manufacturing®, a comprehensive survey project sponsored by Enterprise Minnesota and its partners, manufacturers have almost a surreally high level of optimism with expectations of record revenues, record profitability, record-level of investment in their companies, and increased wages. Sixty-four percent anticipate economic expansion – a record high in the survey’s history and twice the rate it was two years ago. The sobering counterweight to this enthusiasm is the anticipated workforce shortage. The challenges of attracting and retaining both skilled and unskilled workers loom large and may impede the growth of the industry. Notably and for the first time, large and urban manufacturers are indicating an increased urgency about workforce issues, narrowing the traditional gap that past State of Manufacturing surveys have revealed between Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota’s concerns over attracting and retaining qualified workers.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2LdO76u
