NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Tennessee’s skilled labor gap is bad now, and about to get a whole lot worse.
The Tennessee Manufacturers Association says there are currently about 5,000 manufacturers in the state employing more than 141,000 workers.
Association Director Denise Rice says she’s just finished visiting with many of those companies during a statewide tour, and everywhere she went the number one complaint was the lack of qualified employees.
To make matters worse, over the next few years factory owners will lose some 75,000 additional employees as the baby boom generation retires.
