Report Shows Jump in ‘Lightweighting’ Job Demand

A new report released by Lightweight Innovations For Tomorrow and the Workforce Intelligence Network shows a large jump in demand for Indiana workers in lightweight materials manufacturing. The report says demand increased more than 50 percent in the first quarter of 2016.

LIFT says the demand continues the trend of higher employment in the lightweighting field. Indiana saw employment growth for the sixth consecutive year in 2015, with more than 500,000 workers employed, the highest number since 2008.

"The dramatic jump in job postings shows the incredible demand from employers for workers with skills in advanced manufacturing in Indiana," said Emily Stover Derocco, education and workforce development director for LIFT. "Our goal is to make the U.S. the global leader in advanced manufacturing, which is something we can only attain if we close the skills gap between workers and the jobs needing to be filled. We will continue to work with industry members, our partners, educators and labor leaders to fill that gap."

LIFT says the top five positions available in Indiana during the first quarter were laborers and freight, stock and material movers; general maintenance and repair workers; production workers; mechanical engineers; and electrical engineers.

The report, which covers Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, says Indiana’s increase was the highest in the five-state region. Only Ohio had fewer job postings