MSU’s AiM UP working to build talent shortage of skilled workers
MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY (WCBI) – Mississippi State University is helping close the skills gap between manufacturers and prospective workers.
The Advances in Manufacturing, or AiM UP, program is a statewide initiative led by Mississippi State University.
The state has a talent shortage for skilled workers in manufacturing roles, things as robotics and automation.
AiM UP is working to build that capacity by providing skills instruction to the current workforce.
MSU is building partnerships with the state’s largest manufacturers to supply the right training.
Those involved with the program said it’s not about replacing workers, it’s about teaching new skills to meet new needs.
“That’s a common misperception about industrial automation, is it’s going to take someone’s job. But what we have to say is it’s going to increase an individual’s capacity for work. So, we didn’t say that the computer was going to take our jobs when it came around. It increased our capacity to do more work, and industrial automation in the manufacturing sector is going to do the same,” said MSU Engineer Carver Middleton.
MSU and AiM UP won the 2024 Workforce Program of the Year at the Horizon Summit hosted by Accelerate Mississippi.
