{"id":107131,"date":"2023-04-04T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/?p=107131"},"modified":"2023-07-25T09:40:55","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T16:40:55","slug":"women-in-manufacturing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/manufacturing-and-mobility\/2023\/04\/04\/women-in-manufacturing\/","title":{"rendered":"Women in manufacturing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The need to have a diverse workforce in manufacturing continues. Companies are focusing on ways to add new, multi-faceted talent to the industry. A specific focus within manufacturing is to attract and retain women in the workforce. In the United States, women made up about 47 percent of the American workforce but only 30 percent of it was in manufacturing.1<\/sup> The good news is that on average, women in manufacturing earn 16 percent more than the national median annual income for women who are employed.2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n In April 2023, we hosted a panel discussion at our booth at Hannover Messe 2023 titled \u201cWomen in Manufacturing.\u201d Watch the video<\/a> from the event.<\/p>\n\n\n Join us for the Women in Manufacturing session on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, from 3:00 to 4:00 PM PST at our booth in Hall 17.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t I was the host for this special session and our panelists included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These women are leaders and subject matter experts in the manufacturing industry. During this session, we came together to discuss the future of women in manufacturing and how to promote and support them. For more information about our panelists, please see the \u201cOur Panel\u201d section below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our panel discussed ways to be an ally to women in manufacturing. The first step is having the knowledge that attracting and retaining women in the manufacturing industry is essential. Building employee resource groups has been one successful method. Other ways to be an ally continue to develop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mentorship is an important element in both attracting and retaining women in manufacturing. Mentors are leading by example and are sharing their experiences and lessons they have learned along the way. These women are living examples of what is possible for women coming into the industry, but also for girls beginning to explore future career opportunities. Mentorship programs have been shown to drive retention, but only a relatively small percentage of companies currently provide that offering. The official Women MAKE America<\/a> (WMA) Mentorship Program trains mentors and mentees before matching them based on more than two dozen criteria to maximize their relationship. The WMA Program will train 1,000 mentors by the year 2030.2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n While allyship and mentorship both support women in manufacturing, there is a difference. Being an ally means intentionally taking action to help women in manufacturing progress in the industry. One example of allyship in action is to assess existing processes for areas that inherently have barriers built into them, and then work to improve the process to eliminate them. At the core of mentorship is creating relationships, and sharing knowledge and resources with the goal to help the mentee advance in her career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Professional development opportunities will continue to promote manufacturing as an industry of choice for women. In March 2022, Women MAKE America launched the 35 x 30 campaign<\/a> to increase the percentage of women in the manufacturing workforce to 35 percent by 2030. This industry-wide, action-oriented campaign features a best-in-class female-to-female mentoring program, increased company engagement, and expanded access to professional development and training. The campaign aims to add half a million women to the manufacturing industry by 2030. United States manufacturers can close the “skills gap” by 50 percent simply by bringing 10 percent more women into the industry.2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our discussion also examined how technology can be used to improve access, methods, and processes. For example, automating a function and enabling the ability to monitor that function remotely gives that employee the freedom to perform that task without being required to be at a desk. This improves efficiency and benefits all employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHannover Messe 2023<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t
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What we talked about<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Our Panel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n