New York (Deloitte, December 18, 2012):  Deloitte today announced its  2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, a collaboration between Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness. This new report is a follow-up to the original index released in 2010, and includes survey responses from more than 550 CEOs and senior manufacturing leaders around the world.  Click here for a downloadable copy of the report.

The report:

• Ranks the most competitive countries today and in five years, as well as identifies the key drivers of competitiveness.
• Examines the highly complex forces driving the future of manufacturing and many of the structural changes reshaping the global economy.
• Helps frame conversations with government officials and policy makers regarding key items necessary for manufacturers to invest, innovate, compete successfully, and create jobs.

Key findings from the 2013 index:

• China was again ranked the most competitive manufacturing nation in the world today and five years from now of the 38 countries ranked by executives.
• Five years from now, emerging economy nations surge to occupy the top three spots, with China retaining the top spot, and India and Brazil moving up to claim the second and third rankings, respectively.
• Talent-driven innovation is deemed the most critical driver of a nation's competitiveness among 10 major drivers.

Harrisburg, PA:  Last week, the Central Penn Business Journal announced its list of Best Places to work in Pennsylvania.  Nxtbook Media, Cargas Systems, MXL Industries, and Synapse Marketing Solutions were Lancaster County-based companies among the 100 large, medium, and small companies that were named.

Best Places to Work in PA has been a celebration of jobs and the employers who provide them.  It is made possible by a public/private partnership that includes the Team PA Foundation, the PA Department of Community and Economic Development, the PA Council of the Society for Human Resource Management, and the Central Penn Business Journal.

Companies must have a business in PA with at least 25 employees and must have been in business for at least a year.  A survey process looks at strengths and weaknesses that serves as a benchmark for human resource development.

Congratulations to all of the winners but especially to the Lancaster County companies that competed and won.

Lancaster:  In Lancaster County, manufacturing accounts for 12% of all employment, 20% of all wages, and nearly 35% of the gross regional product for the area. It is a significant employer of people who make good wages. It is a very productive industry largely as a result of the investments that have been made in automation over the last two decades. It has a higher "multiplier effect" than nearly any other sector which is reflective of its large supply chain.

Manufacturing includes makers of food, metals, plastics, wood, consumer goods, and printed products along with raw materials that come from agriculture, mining, lumber, and other natural resources in our regional economy.  For Fast Facts about Lancaster County Manufacturing, click here.

Going forward, the Production career pathway, which includes everything from welders to machine operators to industrial maintenance mechanics to truck drivers, is expected to be the fastest growing group of occupations over the next ten years in the County. Many of these jobs require science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) knowledge and skills along with some training after high school. The pathway offers many opportunities for people who are looking for alternative ways to a family-sustaining job.  To see an outline of training related to the Production career pathway, click here.

Washington, DC (McKinsey Global Institute, November 2012): Technological advances, industrialization, and liberalized trade have created a staggering 900 million nonfarm jobs in developing countries since 1980, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. As global companies have tapped (and helped fuel the growth of) low-cost labor sources, they also have created high-wage jobs for more than 50 million high-skill workers, while boosting productivity in developed and emerging markets alike.

This virtuous cycle appears to be reaching its limits, however, and there is a growing sense that something has gone wrong with the machinery that, for decades, delivered GDP growth, higher productivity, rising wages, and better standards of living. Indeed, new research from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) suggests that by 2020, the world could have 40 million too few college-educated workers and that developing economies may face a shortfall of 45 million workers with secondary-school educations and vocational training. In advanced economies, up to 95 million workers could lack the skills needed for employment.1

The projected gaps we identified are notional, and global labor markets will adjust in response to them. But their consequences would be serious: higher levels of unemployment (even as companies struggle to fill select vacancies), rising income inequality, and heightened social tensions testing political stability in countries around the world.

Lancaster:  We are happy to announce that the Lancaster County Re-Entry Management Organization (for which the Lancaster County Workkforce Investment Board is the fiscal agent) is one of the participating organizations in The ExtraOrdinary Give that is being sponsored by the Lancaster County Community Foundation on Friday, November 30, 2012.

Any donation made online at www.extragive.org on that day will be stretched by a $250,000 donation from the Lancaster County Community Foundation.  Plus, there are $50,000 in prizes we can win instantly from your donation!

Mark your calendars, tell your friends, give extraordinary!

Funds that are raised during this campaign will be used to further the work of the RMO in bringing formerly incarcerated people back to the community and helping them re-engage with family and work while, at the same time, increasing public safety and lowering costs to the public by preventing re-incarceration

Please pass this announcement along to everyone that you know who may be interested.

San Francisco, CA (InformationWeek, October 16, 2012):  Given the anticipated shortage of data scientists, should students start learning the precepts of big data in high school?  Changing when advanced database technology is taught has real-world implications, given the realities of today's job market. Both data analytics and big data skills are in high demand in private industry and government.

But there is a looming shortage of workers with these abilities. McKinsey & Co. sounded this alarm back in 2011 with its seminal report that predicted the U.S. would face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 workers with the skills to manage and analyze big data.

The popular technology job board Dice.com has seen a spike in listings for "data scientist," up from just a handful a year ago to more than 35 at the start of October. While still an imprecise job designation, "data scientists" command high salaries compared to other IT job titles. (Separately, the unemployment rate for technology professionals dropped in the third quarter to 3.3%, as compared to 4.2% in the same quarter a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

These listings--many of which request a PhD in fields like mathematics, economics, or statistics--today cluster in financial services, retail, and e-commerce. Job listings using the phrase "big data" have increased from around 200 in January to nearly 800 in October.  "But increasingly, every industry is dealing with big data questions," said Alice Hill, managing director of Dice.com and president of Dice Labs.