Job openings in defense manufacturing

Much like other manufacturing industries, defense manufacturing has numerous job openings, and the U.S. Department of Defense is taking steps to help meet the growing demand for skilled workers.

During a “Future of Defense Manufacturing” webcast with DefenseNews, Keith DeVries, managing director of manufacturing technology for the Office of the Secretary of Defense said, “The industry over the next decade will require more than 4 million jobs to maintain sustainable throughput, and the current estimate says if we can’t address the skills gap by 2030, we could be looking at over $1 trillion in gross domestic product impact.”

The DOD’s Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program includes efforts to help defense industrial base companies ensure their workforce can meet current and future demands. The program was authorized in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2019 and allocated $80 million to assist more than 2,200 defense businesses.

If commercial companies were to hire 1,000 assemblers or 2,000 welders, that’s 1,000 assemblers or 2,000 welders who won’t be entering the defense industry.

The DOD is also looking to prepare departing service members and veterans for careers in manufacturing and has also raised awareness of manufacturing careers for school-age children, according to DeVries.

Other efforts to help increase qualified workers continue as the U.S. Navy broke ground on a new Regional Training Center at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville, Virginia, expecting to open in 2025 and graduate 800-to-1,000 students per year to fill critical vacancies across the defense industrial base.

Meanwhile, the DOD awarded $53 million in grants under the National Defense Education Program to their Manufacturing Engineering Education Program, STEM scholarships, along with Civil Society and Enhanced Civics Education programs.

The DOD also approved $30 million in grants under the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (DMCSP) from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation. The DMCSP invests in critical skills, facilities, workforce development, research and development, and small business support to strengthen the national security innovation base.

The jobs are there, and so is the education and training for defense manufacturing.