Bridging the Skills Gap in Manufacturing and Construction with Pinnacle Series

The manufacturing and construction industries face a common challenge that causes drastic delays in project implementation, introduces errors into production processes and contributes to employee dissatisfaction and turnover.

The culprit is the skills gap: the gap between the demand for skilled labor and the number of skilled workers available to fill it. Over the past decade, the retirement of many experienced workers and the introduction of advanced new technologies have widened the skills gap, especially in industries that have struggled to attract new workers.

Recently, significant investments in large-scale infrastructure projects combined with increasing demand from the manufacturing sector have increased pressure on manufacturing and construction companies to identify and retain qualified candidates.

The manufacturing skills gap is expected to grow to 2.1 million jobs by 2030, with 54% of manufacturers saying their biggest recruitment challenge is finding candidates with the right skills.

The construction industry now needs to hire more than 300,000 workers to meet demand, with 61% of industry executives reporting delays due to labour shortages.

Training as a solution

In this competitive environment, training offers a proactive and sustainable path forward. Companies that invest in training not only build a more resilient internal workforce, but also improve employee satisfaction and reduce turnover.

While 6 in 10 manufacturers reported introducing advanced technologies to compensate for labor shortages, 63% also reported retraining workers to solve the same problem. Meanwhile, half of all construction workers agree that their company needs digital skills to succeed.

Employees also see training as a valuable benefit. 65% of employees rate the opportunity to improve their skills as “very important” when applying for a new job, and 71% report improved job satisfaction after training.

Training isn’t just about getting employees into entry-level positions—it’s also about developing talent. Of the positions that manufacturing and construction companies struggle to fill, mid-level management positions for foremen, supervisors, engineers, and CAD managers are among the most difficult to recruit skilled workers.

Solving the three pain points

Eagle Point has transformed workforce development for architecture, engineering, construction, and manufacturing firms by addressing three issues directly related to the knowledge gap: ineffective and fragmented training initiatives that fail to prepare employees; the loss of group knowledge when employees leave or retire; and the disruption to productivity resulting from staffing shortages.

Eagle Point’s Pinnacle Series platform delivers three key benefits: continuous learning, knowledge sharing, and increased productivity.

1. Continuous learning.

One of the biggest barriers to learning is access. On-site training is a staple of many training plans, but scheduling time for employees to attend is logistically difficult, and employees remember training better when they can use their new skills right away.

The Pinnacle Series combines with on-the-job learning to deliver a much-needed applied learning component. With training content libraries spanning all major industry software, employees have all the training materials they need at their fingertips, wherever and whenever they need it.

2. Sharing knowledge.

While acquiring skilled workers and training new employees is a challenge, siloed knowledge is a risk in itself. Internal processes that are fragmented can be lost when the people responsible for that internal knowledge retire or leave the company.

Lack of access to knowledge can also lead to internal bottlenecks or more errors when unskilled workers try to figure out how to solve a problem on their own.

Pinnacle Series custom content creation tools enable companies to align existing content with internal standards or develop entirely new content that documents their own best practices.

3. Increased productivity.

Our expert courses make it easy to find trusted answers. Instead of spending hours scouring YouTube for tutorials, employees can search our catalog for trusted, up-to-date instruction.

For frequently repeated processes, our workflow feature allows us to keep all the most important information at our fingertips, so employees never miss a step.

And for employees who want to learn new material, our knowledge assessment tool highlights gaps in their training so they don’t waste time repeating material they’ve already learned.

In fact, our knowledge assessment tool offers an additional benefit to your HR and recruiting department: by integrating it into your interview process, you can identify the most qualified candidates, make more informed hiring decisions, and start onboarding new employees on day one with a personalized learning plan.

We are your differentiator.

Industry trends are only part of the story. Architecture, engineering, construction, and manufacturing companies still have plenty of room to buck the trend and establish themselves as the exception.

Training—supported by expert content, advanced LMS features, personalized learning paths, and advanced assessment tools—is the way forward.

Pinnacle Series offers all this and more. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your AEC&M firm retain employees and close the skills gap, and request a demo of our software.