A second-shift operator at a fabrication plant outside Detroit watches his CNC mill cycle through another run. His hands move automatically—setting, checking, adjusting—steps he learned in his first month on the job. No one's checked in with him since.
I ask him how long most workers stay.
"A while," he says, eyes still on the machine. "Until something better comes up."
Turnover like this isn't new. But it used to be easier to ignore. For decades, manufacturing leaders have told themselves that this is just how it is. People cycle in, people cycle out. Some stay, but most don't. The work is tough. Not everyone's built for it.
That narrative doesn't hold up anymore.
- Over 80% of manufacturing professionals report that high turnover has disrupted production (Deloitte, 2025 Manufacturing Industry Outlook, 2025).
- 84% of manufacturing leaders have seen the loss of skilled workers negatively impact every area of their operations (LNS Research, The Knowledge Management and Industrial AI Imperative, 2024).
- Replacing a single skilled manufacturing worker costs between $20,000 and $40,000 (UKG, A Turning Point for Manufacturing, 2023).
- Hiring bonuses, higher wages, and better benefits aren't fixing it (Harvard Business Review, Why Workers Quit, 2023).
A plant manager in Houston tried bumping new-hire pay by 20% after losing over half his team in a year. It barely made a difference.
"We'd get a bunch of applications, hire fast, and six months later, we were right back where we started," he told me.
What's happening in manufacturing isn't a labor shortage. It's something worse.
Workers aren't leaving because the job is hard. They're leaving because they don't see a future in it.
"Unlike other career fields that grow year over year, this one feels like it's shrinking. I don't see it as sustainable." – A frontline worker, speaking anonymously to protect his employment.
If you walked onto your shop floor today and asked every operator where they see themselves in five years, how many could give you an answer?
That silence? That's the crisis.
What happens when you pay attention to manufacturing workforce development
In 2019, O'Neal Steel had a problem that looked a lot like everyone else's: 60% of new hires were gone within six months.
Most companies would have just thrown another hiring spree at the problem. But when O'Neal's leadership sat down and listened to the workers who left, they heard the same thing over and over:
"I didn't know what I was doing."
"Nobody checked in after I started."
"It didn't feel like a place to build a career."
So, instead of just hiring faster, they slowed down and fixed the system.
They built The 180-Day Experience, a structured onboarding and mentorship program to keep workers past six months. Instead of handing new hires a binder and letting them sink or swim, they:
- Paired them with mentors from day one.
- Checked in weekly instead of waiting until annual reviews.
- Mapped out career paths so employees knew what opportunities existed.
It wasn't complicated. It ensured people didn't feel like ghosts on the shop floor.
A year later, turnover had dropped 37%. Internal promotions doubled.
And people stayed.
In fact, industrials that invest in frontline training and knowledge management see less turnover and better operational performance overall.
Now, contrast that with another frontline worker I spoke with:
"If you want to move up, specialize in lean manufacturing or maintenance—then leave for a company that actually values those skills."
That's the choice manufacturing workers are making every day. The only question is whether your company is one they stay with or one they leave.
Toyota figured out manufacturing workforce development decades ago
Toyota plants in North America retain over 96% of their frontline workforce (Toyota Corporate Reports, 2023). That's not an accident.
At Toyota, being a frontline worker isn't a dead end. It's a pipeline.
Every operator knows their next step, whether moving into a technical role, becoming a trainer, or advancing into leadership. Employees don't just build parts—they build better processes through Toyota's Kaizen approach. The company spends an average of $3,600 per worker per year on training (Toyota Workforce Investment Report, 2023), ensuring that the people closest to the work have a stake in improving it.
Meanwhile, another machinist told me:
"I don't see a real way up unless I get into management. The actual work itself is never treated like a long-term skill."
Two manufacturers. Two different outcomes.
One builds a workforce. The other burns through one.
What real manufacturing workforce investment looks like
Most manufacturers talk about "investing in training." But training isn't the problem. The problem is that workers get trained and then hit a wall—no next step. No growth. Just repetition.
Here's what works:
1. Train leaders, not just workers
At Prysmian Group, a global cable manufacturer, turnover dropped 30% in two years—not because of better training, but because they trained supervisors to lead (Prysmian Workforce Study, 2023).
"People don't leave bad jobs," says Andrea Pirondini, CEO of Prysmian North America. "They leave bad managers."
2. Make career growth visible
At Nucor and Siemens, frontline workers see new job openings before external candidates do (Siemens Workforce Report, 2023).
They don't have to guess whether they have a future there. They can apply for it.
3. Use technology to map career paths
Skills-tracking platforms like L2L's workforce development system help manufacturers identify high-potential employees and show them a path forward (L2L Workforce Development Data, 2023).
Volkswagen cut onboarding time by 40% using virtual reality (VR) training (Volkswagen Training Report, 2023).
But tech alone doesn't solve anything. It works when the culture supports it.
4. Turn performance reviews into learning pathways
For too many frontline workers, performance reviews are a one-sided evaluation. A manager tells them what they did well, where they fell short—and that's it. There is no discussion about how to grow. No next steps. It's just a pat on the back or a warning.
That's a missed opportunity.
High-performing manufacturers are using performance reviews as a tool to create personalized learning paths (Deloitte, 2023).
According to Zapier, here’s how these manufacturing organizations are doing it:
- 360-degree performance evaluation methods collect feedback from both supervisors and colleagues. This helps reduce bias in the evaluation process and highlights opportunities for growth the supervisor may have overlooked.
- Performance and skills management software lets leadership track employee training and assign new skills and certifications. This practice ensures no one slips through the cracks when it comes to professional development.
Instead of a dead-end performance review, workers get a learning pathway tailored to their goals.
"Companies that connect performance reviews to training pathways see 32% higher skill retention and 22% longer average employee tenure." (Deloitte, 2023)
This simple shift turns performance reviews from an annual HR task into a powerful workforce development tool.
Final thought: What happens if nothing changes?
We've reached the breaking point.
Companies that invest in structured training, leadership development, and manufacturing workforce development pathways will build a workforce that stays, grows, and thrives.
The ones that don't? They'll be left wondering why no one wants to work for them anymore.
And they won't like the answer.
Author’s note: Many frontline workers hesitate to speak openly about these challenges due to fear of retaliation. To protect their employment, some of the sentiments included in this piece were gathered from anonymous manufacturing discussions.
