Mind the skills gap

Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell focuses on the efforts being made to attract and train the talent the glass and glazing industry needs to flourish.

“The recruitment and retention of shop floor staff combined with a failure to attract younger workers into the industry, threaten the long-term sustainability of the glass and glazing sector, according to commentators.

“The warning was made at a roundtable forum discussion hosted by Bohle in Manchester at the end of April [2018].

“Attendees argued that while improving skills within the industry was important, it was its failure to appeal to younger workers that represented the greater challenge and threat.

“Christina Moorhouse, managing director of Oakland Glass, said: ‘If we can get the right people with the right attitude, we can train them. It’s attracting those people in the first place that we find difficult because those people aren’t thinking about a career in glass.’”

They were the opening paragraphs of an article I wrote last year after taking part in the said forum organised by Bohle. You can read the whole article here.

This week, rather than the usual news stories, I thought I would give a brief round-up of the sorts of discussions we are having regarding skills, training and attracting new talent into the industry.

The problem didn’t start last year, but it has certainly become more profound lately. We’ve even reported on how some companies are partnering with local colleges to design the right types of courses.

In the printed edition of Glass Times, we are dedicating a handful of pages each month to stories and articles relating to the skills crisis. Please get in touch if you have stories that you would like to share.