ACT and the National Association of Manufacturers Collaborate on New Skills Certification System

ACT’s National Career Readiness Certificate is at the heart of a new skills certification system designed to address America’s workforce crisis head on.

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), through The Manufacturing Institute, is partnering with ACT on a Manufacturing Skills Certification System to increase the number of qualified workers. A joint initiative will align industry-recognized skills certifications with career and educational pathways. The NAM is the nation’s largest industrial trade association, with a reach to more than 100,000 companies and 13 million workers. The Manufacturing Institute is the arm of the NAM focused on education, workforce, innovation support, and research.

“The National Career Readiness Certificate is the world-class market leader in ensuring young adults are equipped with the basic academic skills necessary to pursue additional education, training, and employment in the manufacturing industry,” said Emily Stover DeRocco, president of The Manufacturing Institute and senior vice president of the NAM. “The partnership between the NAM and ACT is critically important to begin addressing the workforce crisis.”

Martin Scaglione, president and chief operating officer of ACT’s Workforce Development Division, said ACT and the NAM share similar missions. “We both know that growth of our economy can happen only if the education and skills of our workforce also grow. We know the keystone of any skills training program is foundational skills, and that’s where the National Career Readiness Certificate comes into play. It certifies the core skills that are applicable across the diverse manufacturing industry.”

The Manufacturing Skills Certification System was launched during a press conference on March 4 in Washington, DC. Featured speakers included Richard L. Ferguson, ACT CEO and chairman of the board.

Many factors have led to the need for a skills certification system. The integration of technology into manufacturing processes—from product design to distribution—has dramatically increased the level of basic academic and technology-based skills the manufacturing workforce needs. An aging workforce and retirements among the baby boomer generation have caused a shortage of qualified workers. Current education and training systems are not always adequately preparing people for college and career.

“Our nation’s capacity to recruit and train the new workforce is inadequate and is misaligned with the jobs of today and tomorrow,” said DeRocco. “We lack clear education pathways, and we lack a system to verify and credential learned skills.”

The Manufacturing Skills Certification System will respond to the crisis by delivering the right number of workers with the right skill sets. The Manufacturing Institute will oversee the system. It provides an array of leading-edge solutions and services to the nation’s manufacturers through the National Center for the American Workforce and the Center for Manufacturing Research and Innovation. In 2008, the institute expanded its mission to recognize that an educated and skilled workforce is essential to manufacturers’ success and competitiveness in the global economy.

The NAM recognizes that the core skills needed in manufacturing—personal effectiveness, foundational academic, general workplace, and basic manufacturing—are building blocks to virtually all careers in this field, across all occupations and sectors. The Manufacturing Skills Certification System will provide a means for workers to obtain these skills in response to market demand.

The first phase of the initiative includes organizing an array of individual skills certification programs into one system to identify, assess, and deliver basic skills for workers in all sectors of manufacturing. The focus of the first release will be the core skills needed for entry-level jobs in manufacturing. Higher-level sector and occupation-specific skills certifications will be added during the next phase of development.

“Aligning these skills certifications with career and educational pathways is essential to ensuring our future workers have the skills necessary to succeed in entry-level jobs and to better position themselves for advancement in manufacturing careers,” said DeRocco.

The pathways will integrate specific curriculum into programs of study at educational institutions, particularly community colleges. The institute will work with institutions to identify curriculum that allows students to acquire the competencies they need to qualify for industry-driven credentials.

The National Career Readiness Certificate adds clarity to the Manufacturing Skills Certification System.

• Workers will know what core skills they need for entry-level jobs across the manufacturing industry.
• Employers can validate that potential employees have these core skills.
• Educational institutions and organizations will understand what skills need to be taught and learned to ensure the United States has an educated manufacturing workforce prepared for the evolving twenty-first century economy.

“As the foundation of the Manufacturing Skills Certification System, the National Career Readiness Certificate clearly provides the emphasis on basic academic skills and general workplace skills that ensure young adults are ready for additional postsecondary education and ready for work,” said DeRocco.