Workforce Newsletter 42 - March 13, 2025

March 13, 2025

Posted By: Johnnieanne Hansen in Newsletters, Workforce News,

The Workforce Newsletter of the Council of Industry

March 13, 2025

Zierick Manufacturing President Gretchen Zierick and Marlboro High School Teacher Thomas Fassell Named 2025 Manufacturing Champions.

The Board of Directors of the Council of Industry have announced the 2025 Manfuacturing Champions. This year we are excited to recognize 2 outstanding individuals who, through vision, dedication, hard work, and tireless involvement have helped to overcome some of the many obstacles faced by manufacturers in the Hudson Valley community and in so doing they have made it possible for manufacturers and their employees to prosper.’ Join us in celebrating this year’s honorees at the Champions Award Breakfast and Workforce Developers Expo April 25, 2025 at West Hills Country Club in Middletown.

Gretchen Zierick, president of Zierick Manufacturing in Mt. Kisco, Westchester County, is being recognized for a career dedicated to growing her manufacturing business, supporting workforce development, encouraging and mentoring women in the field of engineering and a strong commitment to the manufacturing sector in the Hudson Valley.

Ms. Zierick began at the company, which was founded by her grandfather in 1919, at the age of 16 as the ‘assistant to the receptionist. She earned a degree in Engineering from Bucknell University and took over as president from her father in 2000. She is the past president of the Precision Metal Forming Association of New York and New Jersey, an active member of the Women in Manufacturing National Association, and a member of the Council of Industry’s Board of Directors.

Thomas Fassell, a Science Teacher at Marlboro High school, was selected in recognition of his outstanding dedication to preparing the next generation of manufacturing and engineering professionals. Fassell founded the Engineering program at Marlboro and has a strong, long-standing collaboration with Council of Industry manufacturing members—including IBM, onsemi, Sono-Tek, President Container, and FALA. He has been instrumental in ensuring that students gain real-world, hands-on experience that aligns with industry workforce needs.

Through his innovative teaching Fassell equips students with critical skills in mechanics, software programming, robotics, electronics and design—all culminating in exciting projects like remote-controlled airplanes and corrugated competitions. Beyond the classroom, his commitment to organizing field trips to manufacturing facilities has provided students with valuable exposure to real-world careers in manufacturing and engineering. Fassell’s dedication to bridging the gap between education and industry has helped shape a strong pipeline of skilled professionals for the Hudson Valley’s manufacturing sector.

Learn more about the Champions Breakfast April 25 ^th

Breakfast Expo To Showcases the Region’s Manufacturing Workforce Players and ‘Ecosystem’

For the 4^th consecutive year the Manufacturing Champions Award Breakfast will include an expo featuring the many schools, colleges and organizations that support the manufacturing workforce development in the Hudson Valley. Part of the celebration of our Manufacturing Champions is the acknowledgment that workforce development is of critical importance to the sector’s vitality in the regio. We are fortunate in the Hudson Valley to have many programs that support manufacturing workforce including High Schools, BOCES, Community Colleges, Four Year Colleges and Universities, not for profits, government agencies and more.

Many of these programs will be participating at the Council of Industry’s Workforce Developers Expo that will be held in conjunction with Champion’s Award Breakfast April 25th at West Hills Country Club in Middletown. The Expo will take place just prior to the breakfast from 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Holding the Workforce Expo in conjunction with the breakfast, which draws in excess of 250 guests, gives all the attendees the opportunity to see the many programs and services that are available to manufacturers, incumbent manufacturing employees, and future manufacturing employees.

Participation if free for our manufacturing workforce development partners though we do as you purchase 2 tickets to the Breakfast.

If your organization would like to participate in the Expo contact Emma Olivet

Roundtable: A Practical Conversation About AI and Its Uses in Manufacturing

On Wednesday March 19^th from 8:30 – 10:30 AM the Council of Industry will hold a roundtable discussion on the practical uses of AI in manufacturing. This discussion will bring together members at various stages of adopting AI, from those already using it to those just beginning to explore its potential. During this conversation, you can share your experiences with AI—what’s working, what challenges you have encountered, and what you hope to achieve. Experienced users will be encouraged to offer insights and best practices on how they’ve integrated AI into their operations.

On hand, we will have Dr. Jason Wrench, a renowned expert in organizational communication and technology, to share his expertise and experience with AI. Dr. Wrench will join us to provide insight and participate in the discussion, offering valuable perspectives on how AI can enhance manufacturing operations. This conversation aims to foster a collaborative environment where members and AI thought leaders can exchange ideas and help manufacturers maximize resources.

Click here to learn more and Register

Upskill Your Workforce With Manufacturing Apprentice Program Electro-Mechanical Technician (EMT) Trade

Quality Assurance Auditor – An Often Overlooked but Very Valuable Apprentice Trade

When we think about manufacturing trades our minds quickly go to Machinist, Toolmaker or Mechanic. Seldom do we think about quality assurance but this trade, that is available through the Council of Industry’s’ MIAP apprentice program, has proven to be extremely valuable to the companies who use the Quality Assurance Auditor to upskill employees in their quality departments.

A Quality Assurance Auditor is responsible for ensuring that products, services, or processes meet established quality standards and regulatory requirements. They conduct thorough evaluations, inspections, and audits to identify areas of improvement, implement corrective actions, and maintain compliance with industry-specific guidelines. You may give them a different title, but if you need to train and individual to have the skills listed below you might consider this apprenticeship for them.

Work Processes (Skills learned on the Job) Approximate Hours for Quality Assurance Auditor (2000 per year):

Workplace Orientation: 300 hours

Workplace Fundamentals: 400 hours
Quality Assurance Fundamentals: 700 hours
Auditing: 2,000 Hours
Maintenance and Record Keeping: 600 Hours
Total Hours: 4,000

Minimum of 144 Hours of Related Instruction (Classroom Learning) Required for Each Apprentice for Each Year:

Safety & Health

Engineering Drawings
Mathematics
Trade Theory and Science
Computer Fundamentals
Welding (if performed on-the-job)
Working on High-Voltage Manufacturing Equipment
Interpersonal Communications: oral and written
Sexual Harassment Prevention

If you want to know more about this trade and if it might be right you’re your company contact Johnnieanne Hansen

Apprenticeship Spotlight

Why is the New Labor Secretary Focused on Apprenticeships? Because They Work

During her confirmation hearing, President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Labor Secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, faced repeated questions about one workforce strategy in particular: apprenticeships. It’s no coincidence. The apprenticeship model has emerged as one of the most effective and scalable solutions to America’s ongoing labor shortages—especially in high-demand sectors like IT, bioscience and renewable energy.

for decades, apprenticeship programs were associated primarily with the trades, training workers for careers in fields such as construction and manufacturing. But today, apprenticeships are reshaping the talent pipeline for the digital economy, offering a structured, employer-driven pathway to fill critical roles in cybersecurity, software development, advanced manufacturing and more.

As industries evolve and the skills gap widens, businesses need alternatives to traditional degree-based hiring. College alone cannot meet the demand for skilled workers, and the rising cost of higher education has left too many Americans burdened with debt but still lacking the skills employers need. Apprenticeships offer a different path—one that allows individuals to earn while they learn, gaining industry-relevant experience from day one.

Trump's Second Term: Likely Directions for Labor Policy

President Trump’s first month back in office has seen a blitz of executive and legislative promises, threats, proposals and actions. So, let’s take a step to slow down, focus on what’s happened and see what Trump’s early moves signal about labor policies and how things will be in the next four years.

Surprise Labor Secretary Pick - To say the nomination of a Teamsters-friendly representative was a step away from the usual Republican ballgame for unions might be an understatement. In February, the Teamsters released a strong endorsement of Chavez-DeRemer, who has a family history with the Teamsters.

National Labor Relations Board Changes - A better indicator of the direction the Trump administration plans to take labor policy is indicated by a series of actions taken by the executive on the National Labor Relations Board, the quasi-judicial body in charge of resolving unfair labor practices and overseeing union elections. As expected, upon taking office, President Trump fired its general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, and replaced her with acting General Counsel William B. Cowen. That was an expected. What was more surprising was what Trump did next: He fired NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox.

Despite the precedent-breaking dismissal of Wilcox and the head-turning nomination of Chavez-DeRemer, in terms of labor policy, Trump’s second term labor policies appear likely to appear similar to that of his first term, which saw 2021’s “Striketober” begin with increased union activity in a series of Deere & Co. strikes and then never really ended, even as President Biden visited picket lines and the UAW issued its nation-wide strike. Ironically, despite dramatic change at the top, it may be that the labor picture for the next four years will be more of the same.

How AI Is Augmenting The Human In Human Resources

Even though organizations are increasingly making use of machines and AI systems to power their processes, companies are still powered by people. When you have people delivering the most critical aspects of an organization’s services and products, you have the need to handle all the processes involved in managing those people. AI is significantly transforming the Human Resources (HR) industry by streamlining processes, improving decision-making, and enhancing employee experiences. Here are a few examples.

AI-Assisted Hiring and Recruitment. AI is seeing significant use helping with hiring and recruitment, especially for organizations that have constant jobs to fill such as in warehouses and logistics, or seasonal jobs. But even beyond these industries, AI is now a core part of many firms’ recruiting and hiring processes. AI is automating and streamlining many of the necessary HR processes, such as screening resumes, matching candidates with job openings, and even conducting initial interviews.

AI Augmented Employee Experience. Once an employee is part of the team, they need to be able to accomplish their primary job with as much support and minimal bureaucracy as possible. AI systems are helping improve the employee experience, simplifying onboarding, completion of necessary requirements and paperwork, and assisting with HR and company-related questions and inquiries. AI improves the onboarding process by providing personalized training programs, automated deployment and provisioning of resources, automating paperwork, and tailored guidance.

Improving the Workforce with AI. AI is able to also streamline different performance management tasks. Using various HR data, AI systems can provide insights into employee productivity, identify areas that employees might need help, augment performance reviews, and in general help optimize organizational efficiency. Tools use AI to offer real-time feedback, set goals, and track progress, making performance management more continuous and effective.

Why HR Burnout Needs To Be A People Priority

HR Executive’s recent What’s Keeping HR Up at Night? survey of HR professionals found that 48% of respondents said their level of stress increased somewhat during 2024, while more than one-quarter said it shot up “dramatically.” Just 4% reported stress levels dropped last year. With stress and burnout correlated to lower productivity and engagement, and higher turnover, the business case for tackling HR burnout is clear, especially since the wellbeing of people professionals is so critical to the health and wellbeing of the entire workforce.

HR professionals are often tasked with handling emotionally charged situations like layoffs and disciplinary actions. At the same time, they are managing quickly changing environments like compliance and tech integration, while working to keep employee and business interests balanced. Sustainable efforts to reduce HR burnout, he adds, empower HR professionals to prioritize self-care, personally and for their teams. “We have to be sure we’re not just caring for our talent folks but that they’re caring for themselves and reinforcing that,” says Frank Giampietro, chief wellbeing officer for EY. He notes that HR leaders should consider their teams caregivers for the company and, as such, continuously connect them with the resources, benefits and tools to tend to their own wellbeing.

Want GLP-1 Coverage? Workers Willing To Switch Jobs For Access

As the demand for GLP-1 weight loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound continues to skyrocket, a new survey reveals that access to those medications has become a critical factor in job retention and acquisition.

According to new data from 9amHealth — which provides specialized care for weight management, diabetes, and heart health — 54% of Americans are using or want to use a GLP-1 medication. That’s a 6% increase from last year. Compared to last year’s findings, even more employees said that GLP-1 coverage was important for taking or staying at a job (73%, up from 67%). Employer-sponsored coverage of these medications has more than doubled, too — rising from 30% to 63%. However, for the 25% of employees who want access but don’t have it, affordability remains a challenge. In fact, 31% of survey respondents indicated they would change jobs in order to gain coverage (up from 21% last year).

Women Want Flexibility At Work, But Worry It Could Hurt Their Careers And Struggle To Find Remote And Hybrid Jobs

Women are overwhelmingly ambitious in their careers, and they see workplace flexibility as a pillar for helping them get ahead at work. A majority of women workers, 87%, say they’re ambitious in their careers, with roughly half, 48%, saying they’re “very ambitious,” according to CNBC’s annual SurveyMonkey Women at Work survey, which was fielded to over 18,800 U.S. workers between February 21 and March 3.

But many worry the stigma of flexible arrangements could harm their career growth, and flexibility is harder to come by for those seeking new opportunities. 75% said they are mostly or fully in-person, 11% are mostly or fully remote, and 12% are hybrid and spend an equal amount of time onsite and remote. But for those with access to flexible work benefits, many are afraid of repercussions for using them: 40% of women say they are concerned with taking advantage of flexible benefits like paid leave, work-from-home or flex time because it could prevent them from achieving their career goals.

Debate Grows Over Expanding Disability Definitions

Among those of us with disabilities there is a simmering debate: Does the growing number of people who identify as disabled help or harm workplace accessibility?One in four American adults is disabled, according to a broad definition used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It includes anyone who reports difficulty concentrating, making decisions or venturing out alone because of a physical, mental or emotional condition.

Whether depression belongs under the disability umbrella alongside paralysis might seem to be semantics. But a lot more people now contend they are entitled to “reasonable accommodations” in the workplace under the Americans With Disabilities Act. From 2021 to 2024, as companies called employees back to offices from the pandemic, there was a 51% increase in complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from people seeking accommodations, many of them remote-work requests based on mental-health diagnoses.

Call It What You Want, but DEI is Really a Talent Strategy

It’s time for a bit of a reality check when it comes to DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), says Christie Smith, PhD, former vice president of inclusion & diversity at consumer electronics giant Apple and founder of The Humanity Studio. DEI has had its ups and downs over the years but now is a very dangerous time to question this concept, says Smith. “When we look at the skill scarcity as well as the half-life of skills, combined with the economic impact of low employee engagement, we are at a crisis situation in the workplace.”

That isn’t the ideal time to be giving up the values of DEI and risk not attracting talent to our organizations, especially if companies want to meet their revenue and growth goals, she says. One needs to look no further than the reality of demographics. Millennials and Gen Z are the most diverse workforce this country has ever had, Smith points out. And companies need to draw from this pool of talent, which views DEI in the workplace as essential, if they want to be successful. All is not doom and gloom, however. If you ask most leaders, they do in fact value DEI, but they aren’t prioritizing it. “It’s 10th in the prioritization of all the other things that they have to deal with,” explains Smith.

Five Years On: How Covid Changed The Workplace

Do you remember where you were on March 11, 2020? Five years ago today, the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic, sending workers home from the office and shuttering businesses worldwide. Since then, we’ve experienced a shifting job market, expectations and locations. What began as an employee-friendly job market amid “The Great Resignation” has turned into one where employers are holding the purse strings and workers are feeling as unmotivated as ever.

This uncertainty has led to the rise of “The Great Detachment,” what experts are calling this period of falling employee engagement, satisfaction and choice. At its core is “the manager squeeze,” says Jim Harter, chief scientist of workplace management and well-being at Gallup, who just published an analysis of the last five years. “How people are managed on a daily basis is multiples more important” than hybrid work policies, he says. “The role of first leadership is saying ‘here’s the culture that we want, and here’s how our practices are going to reinforce that culture that we want,’ and then to articulate it in a way that’s clear to employees.” But how to do that when many folks have been forced to do more with less?

HR's Long COVID: Why The Profession Is Still Recovering, 5 Years Later

About a dozen years ago, Andrew Dawson was involved in an industry project called HR 2020—an effort to prepare the field and its practitioners for the presumptive trends poised to reshape the profession. Focus areas included the integration of technology into HR and the function’s growing capacity to influence business decisions. By 2020, both predictions certainly bore out—the latter of which exploded exponentially owing to another unforeseen influencer: the COVID-19 pandemic.

Five years after the shutdowns started, HR has enough runway to start understanding the pandemic’s lasting impact on the function, he says. While projects like HR 2020 were designed to help people professionals plan for the future, part of being forward-thinking, Dawson adds, involves keeping an eye to the past. “Now, it’s important for HR to say, ‘What are the lessons we learned?’”

iCIMS November and 2024 Labor Market Insights

Activity for both openings and applications surged in January, up 35% and 32%, respectively, month over month. Could that spike in job openings be a sign that hiring will follow suit in the next few months? Hires may also be trailing behind job openings because hiring teams are struggling to find qualified candidates to fill open roles as unemployment dipped to its lowest level since May 2024. US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the separation rate was unchanged in December, and, in a recent survey, almost six out of ten people told iCIMS that they won’t look for a job in 2025. This could be creating an environment where a good candidate is hard to find.

• Read the Report

• Learn more about the Council of Industry’s Manufacturing Career Hub Driven By iCIMS

• Check out the MIAP Apprentice Program

HR Briefs

US Workforce Productivity Up 1.5% In Q4 – BLS

Poor Leadership May Impact Productivity Of Remote Work: Study – Human Resources Director

Guarding Against Workplace Violence: A 3-Step Formula – Mondaq

How HR Can Manage Trump’s Executive Orders, From Immigration To AI And More. – HR Executive

The First 50 Days: 3 Key Actions HR Leaders Should Take – SHRM

Survey: Executive Pay Tied to ESG Metrics– EHS Today

Burnout Costs Employers $21,000 Per Employee, Study Finds – Benefits Pro

The Great Skills Race: Why One In Four Workers Have Left Their Jobs – HR Executive

Manufacturing Matters Podcast

Season 4 Ep 11: Thomas DeMayo, Partner at PKF O’Connor Davies

Manufacturers are prime targets for cyberattacks, from ransomware threats to business continuity disruptions. The latest episode of Manufacturing Matters tackles critical cybersecurity issues facing the industry, featuring Thomas DeMayo, Partner at PKF O’Connor Davies and leader of their Cyber & Privacy Practice.

In this episode, we discuss:

🔹 How cyber threats impact manufacturers of all sizes

🔹 Common mistakes companies make with IT security

🔹 The five pillars of cybersecurity and how to implement them

🔹 The importance of business continuity & ransomware resilience

🔹 How to prepare for CMMC compliance in defense manufacturing

Listen Here