Advanced Manufacturing

The advanced manufacturing sector is comprised of employers engaged in the mechanical, physical, or chemical transformation of materials, substances, or components into new products. Today’s manufacturing occupations are clean and modern, controlled with high technology, automation and robots. Manufacturing offers excellent process improvement strategies to compete globally and help lead the country out of its economic downturn, employing a highly skilled, highly motivated workforce. Whether your interests lie in improving the layout and efficiency of a company through industrial engineering or designing custom tools that enable a company to produce its product through a career as a tool and die maker, the manufacturing sector has the career for a lifetime.

Over the past 10 years, much of the advanced manufacturing growth in the Greater New Orleans has been fueled by process and productivity improvement, often coupled with the introduction of new career pathways. As a result, employers do not always need more workers to meet increasing demand, but they do require a more skilled workforce. Low-skill production jobs were often either moved offshore or were replaced through automation. Newly installed capital equipment requires more capable operators and skilled technicians to maintain the equipment.

There are many occupations within the manufacturing industry that require higher levels of education; however, there are also many that only require a high school diploma or equivalent. Most occupations in the manufacturing industry require employees to participate in continuous on-the-job training (OJT).

The advanced manufacturing sector, which includes technical skilled professionals (such as welding and carpentry) alongside analytical expertise (such as engineering and drafting) as a whole requires more middle- and high-skilled workers than other sectors in the overall GNO economy.

What are middle- and high-skill jobs?

We define middle-skill jobs as those that generally require some education and training beyond
high school but less than a Bachelor’s degree. These postsecondary education and training requirements can include Associate’s degrees, vocational certificates, on-the-job training, previous work experience, or generally some college but less than a Bachelor’s degree. High-skill jobs require a Bachelor’s degree or higher.