Due to the growing skills gap and an aging workforce, U.S. manufacturers will need to fill an estimated 3.5 million jobs in the coming decade. As companies look ahead to address the growing talent shortage, many experts say women could be the key to strengthening the manufacturing workforce. women, manufacturing A 2015 Deloitte study says there is a strong business case for placing women in manufacturing to address the talent shortage and improve financial performance. Deloitte says women are manufacturing’s largest pool of untapped talent and while they represent nearly half of the U.S. workforce, they comprise less than a third of the manufacturing workforce. Furthermore, while the pool of available and qualified candidates is “significant,” the proportion of women in leadership roles also lags behind other U.S. industries. “The industry is missing out on a critical talent resource to advance innovation in manufacturing, increase America’s competitiveness in the global manufacturing landscape and close that skills gap,” said Craig Giffi, vice chairman of Deloitte LLP in a press release. The advent of new technologies and robotics has reduced many of the physical demands of the jobs that historically discouraged women. In addition, many of today’s manufacturing workers tend to be highly educated and command strong salaries. They also work in clean, air-conditioned factories and don’t have to do heavy lifting for long periods of time. Lauren Slowik, founding board member of Lady Tech Guild in New York, told the New York Business Journal that the physical and strength demands of many manufacturing jobs are quickly changing. “If anything, the precision and finesse that software and computer-controlled manufacturing allows means that huge segments of throwing human labor at manufacturing is removed,” Slowik said. Women who currently work in manufacturing show a high level of satisfaction with the work and compensation. […]