There’s an incredible amount of excitement and innovation happening in the mobility industry in the Ann Arbor region. Some great examples are American Center for Mobility, Mcity, and Washtenaw Community College’s (WCC) Advanced Transportation Center.
Autonomous vehicles are going to change the world, in ways we might not have imagined. There are potential implications for how we live, how our cities operate and the types of jobs available. There will be potential job disruptions, and new types of jobs that emerge with this technology. There will also be new types of mechanics, new types of service providers, and new issues that will need to be resolved.
In addition to new opportunities because of the rapidly evolving mobility industry, the skilled trades gap is growing. People are not going into manufacturing industries and people are retiring out of STEM-related fields. This gap impedes economic growth not just in Michigan, but across the country and the world.
The WCC Advanced Transportation Center was established to develop the workforce needed to meet current and future mobility workforce demands. It’s designed to ensure that Michigan remains the world leader in building and maintaining the transportation system that will be integral to how we live, work, and play. And that future is not so far off: Nationally, 4.6 million workers will need to be trained for these jobs by 2020.
Ann Arbor SPARK worked with WCC to identify these in-demand skills based on feedback it received from employers throughout the region. The feedback reinforced what the SPARK team knew: Highly skilled labor is in demand, and employers are working hard to find that talent here.
Training for highly-skilled careers needs to be robust: Experiential, hands-on, and classroom-based learning prepares students for work in the mobility sector. At WCC’s Advanced Transportation Center, students work with equipment used for testing and non-destructive well inspection, C&C laser and robotic cutting equipment, and with 3D printers.
Ann Arbor SPARK’s collaborative approach to economic development – working with the private, public, and academic sectors – supports the success of programs like WCC’s as well as businesses like the American Center for Mobility by ensuring a robust talent pipeline and workforce. These efforts ensure employers can find and hire the skilled employees they – and our economy – need to grow.
