Daily Buzz

US Medtech's Talent Gap

By: Norbert Sparrow

24 April, 2012

It’s ironic, perhaps, but not surprising that while the United States continues to post historically high unemployment numbers, a growing number of jobs are going unfilled because of a dearth of talent.

 

According to a survey conducted for the World Economic Forum’s Future of Manufacturing: Opportunities to drive economic growth, “67% of US-based manufacturers are reporting a moderate to severe shortage of available, qualified workers and 56% anticipate the shortage to grow worse in the next three to five years.” The outlook is the most pessimistic in the automotive sector (77% of surveyed companies reported facing a shortage), but the life science and medical device sector is also feeling the pinch (62%).