Could Women be Manufacturing’s Answer to the Talent Shortage?

The manufacturing sector has been grappling with a talent crisis for some time. According to the results of a new study, women might be the answer to fulfilling key jobs and injecting more diversity into a traditionally male-dominated field.

Women in Manufacturing (WiM) and Xometry released their fourth-annual “Career Advancement for Manufacturing” report, which found 79% of women are pleased with the progress they’ve made in the manufacturing industry over the last five years, up significantly from 62% in 2020. Eighty-one percent of women responding to the survey said they would recommend a career in manufacturing compared to less than three quarters of men (74%).

Most women don’t intentionally choose manufacturing as their preferred career path, but once in the field, they are happy with their choice. The majority of respondents said they came into the manufacturing industry through job postings, co-op programs, and through active recruiting. In comparison, male respondents said they got their start in the industry via the family business or through apprenticeships and internships as well as through STEM programs.

“The results of this year’s survey confirm what many of us have felt for a long time—that women can find fulfillment and achieve success in manufacturing,” said Kathy Mayerhofer, Xometry’s chief sales officer. “Yet we have to do more to reach women at increasingly younger ages, compel them to pursue STEM educations, and market the entrepreneurial opportunities that exist within manufacturing.”

Women were generally optimistic about women’s progress in manufacturing over the last five years (33%), up significantly from 2020 (17%), and 2021 (27%). Male respondents were even more optimistic with 43% confirming they think women have progressed positively in manufacturing roles during that same time frame.

Women’s increased satisfaction with manufacturing jobs is good for the sector as most companies are experiencing on-going labor shortages, 83% according to survey respondents. The hardest-to-fill roles are entry-level positions followed by assemblers and fabricators; maintenance, repair, and operations; industrial mechanics and maintenance technicians; and engineers.

Overall, women currently comprise less than a third (30%) of employees in the manufacturing sector, with no significant change since 2021. Recruiting more women not only helps fill in talent gaps, but it also helps improve diversity—a factor the overwhelming majority of women (90%) and men (67%) say is important to improving business outcomes.

To draw more women into manufacturing, survey respondents suggested a number of practices, including encouraging more STEM participation, increased recruitment into internships prior to college, and establishing mentor programs and women-oriented employee resource groups. Standing up benefits in areas like maternity and paternity leave and child care along with establishing flexible working hours is another way to attract more women into the sector, respondents said.

“We firmly believe in the transformative power of women to drive the manufacturing industry forward,” said Allison Grealis, president and founder of WiM. “It is imperative to redouble our efforts in attracting and engaging more women in manufacturing to foster enduring change and fortify the industry's resilience.”

A full copy of The Career Advancement for Women in Manufacturing Annual Report is available here.