With their vocational program, Festo is building tomorrow’s workforce
By Lorelei Smillie
Festo Didactic, the educational division of automation company Festo, is providing students in Mason with manufacturing skills through its vocational program.
The rising cost of college and a shrinking job market have led many to question the value of an undergraduate degree. “I think the four-year degree is probably going to go away, or at least be de-emphasized,” says Daniel Rodriguez, a director at Festo Didactic North America. In response, more high school graduates are turning toward trade skills as an alternative path.
Festo operates a logistics and assembly plant in Mason. The center runs a training and apprenticeship program for local students. For one year, students from Kings High School in Warren County and Goshen High School in Clermont County take classes in manufacturing processes that combine textbook learning with hands-on experience using hardware and software systems.
“We develop specially built training systems for young people in high schools, middle schools, colleges, universities and for industrial incumbent workers in the workforce,” Rodriguez says.
Vocational training has become increasingly in demand as the manufacturing skills gap widens. According to Deloitte, there will be a net need for 3.8 million manufacturing jobs between 2024 and 2033, with 1.9 million potentially going unfilled without adequate certification.
Festo Didactic has been working to close that gap for the past 100 years. A branch of Festo, a German company that makes automation technology for factories, Festo Didactic creates teaching systems, labs, software and more for students and workers to learn technical skills. Students are taught both theory and hands-on skills in automation, electronics, robotics and other fields.
Rodriguez sees Festo Didactic as continuously evolving to provide workers with the skills they need for their entire career. Even if someone graduates with a degree in engineering, they might need a certificate for a certain job or a more specific type of training.
“You’re never going to stop learning,” Rodriguez says.