Culture is a difficult concept to explain.It’s like what St.Augustine said about time: “I know well enough what it is, provided no one asks me; but if I am asked what it is and try to explain, I am baffled.” But even if they can’t explain it, culture is a concept that both employers and employees need to think very seriously about if they want to thrive in the 21st-century economy.
Above all, this seems to be true for the youngest demographic currently in the workforce, Generation Z.Nush Ahmed of ADDMAN/KAM.I don’t know all that many people in Gen Z personally (which is probably reflective of the larger challenge that this article is about).
However, I think that the approach that companies take in trying to attract Gen Z hires is perhaps the defining issue in contemporary workforce development, especially in the context of the manufacturing sector.So I reached out to someone who lives that theme firsthand, and has a grasp on it from every conceivable angle: Nush Ahmed, quality inspector at ADDMAN/Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing (KAM), in North Carolina.In addition to her day job, Nush is busy with multiple projects that revolve around advocating for populations that are underrepresented in the trades, especially young women: Sisterhood of Trades, “a hub to inspire and teach girls about the trades,” and the NexGenMFG Podcast, which covers similar themes.
More broadly, Nush is a source of seemingly infinite positive energy for anyone who is looking to bypass the conventional college-to-career pathway in favor of hands-on, vocational training that puts one in direct contact with the work world.As recently as a few years ago, the idea that this could be just as legitimate an option as college for those graduating high school was barely on anyone’s radar — at least concerning nations like the U.S., where the manufacturing labor pool has been steadily declining for decades.That steady decline, however, is one of the main factors that has finally brought public attention back to the manufacturing labor pool: when you see stories in the mainstream press about workers like Nush, they are often presented in the context of the enormous manufacturing labor gap on the horizon for the U.S.
over the next decade, with the nation facing a potential shortage of around 2 million manufacturing workers by 2033.Alongside the benefits to the U.S.economy that could come from bringing more younger workers into the manufacturing sector, the discourse surrounding the topic also typically focuses on the benefits that Gen Z tradespeople see from embarking on a career path that used to be the norm, but became increasingly uncommon as “go-to-college” culture became solidified in the late 20th century and thus far in the 21st.
Nush is an expert in the benefits of entering a career in the trades: “A lot of young people really want to be a part of something,” Nush told me.“They don’t want to just go sit in an office to draw a paycheck then check out at the end of the day.They want to be part of an environment where they and their coworkers are driving change and improving some aspect of the world.
“It’s always rewarding to be able to make something — to look at a product and realize, my hands helped make that! I used to work at a wood manufacturer that made boxes for Walmart.Whenever I’d go into a Walmart, I’d make a beeline to the aisle our products were in, because it was so cool to me to see something we made.And I’d start to look over at other stuff and it would get the gears in my mind turning, like, ‘This has been in a plant before, that’s been in a plant before…’ The more I learn about it, the more I want to learn.” So how did Nush get to the point where she was running around a Walmart having her mind blown by the endless supply chain implications? Telling that story has become a pastime for her at this point, most recently to USA Today.
That made me feel kind of bad for making her repeat it, but as Nush said, “I love talking about it, because to a lot of people, it seems so random.In retrospect, I got into manufacturing without even realizing that’s what I was doing,” Nush began.“As high school was ending, college felt out of the question for me.
But I’m really into cars, especially race cars.That led me to look for motorsport-related schools, and that’s how I found NASCAR Technical Institute.” Growing up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the home of Harvard — and before anyone was really talking about reshoring, trade wars, tariffs, etc.— the adults in Nush’s life certainly viewed her decision as unconventional: “All my life, people represented the trades to me as something you had to do if you didn’t do well in school and you had no other choice.
When I told my guidance counselors in high school that I was only applying to one school, and it’s NASCAR Technical Institute, with a 100 percent acceptance rate, they’d fight me so hard on it — ‘Why don’t you want to go to a university? Why is that what you want to do with your life? You have so much more potential!’” Nush paused, reflecting on how she felt about that attitude: “Why do you have to disrespect my dreams like that? But that’s so normalized in high schools, especially high schools where going to ‘the right college’ is seen as the be-all end-all.I wish that there was more pushback from people who are actually in the trades, and the business owners.There needs to be more of a spotlight that shows kids that the trades can provide you with fulfilling careers and successful lives.
“It’s not like what your parents may have told you! It’s not for the rejects, the trades are filled with brilliant people.I wish that was represented the same way that medicine, and business, and being a lawyer are.” Fittingly, Nush is part of the transformation, currently underway, which appears to be reframing how trade careers are represented.Along those lines, I think an important question to keep in mind is, how can that transformation be sustained for the long haul, rather than a moment that comes and goes? This is precisely why building the right culture is so indispensable: “The environment I work at right now has been incredible,” said Nush.
“You can genuinely feel how much people care about their coworkers.That’s the kind of culture that everyone should have the opportunity to work in.“But I’ve worked at five other manufacturing companies before, and none of them had a culture like the one at KAM.
At every previous position, it always felt like any ideas I shared that were outside my designated responsibilities were immediately shot down.” For Nush, a business culture is largely defined by the way that people in the most senior roles speak to the people with the most entry-level or menial positions.It’s that straightforward: “One of my biggest pet peeves is when people in leadership overlook the people on the floor.You’ll almost never see a manager walk up to a machinist and just talk to them.
That happens all the time at KAM, though,” Nush recounted.“And I have experience with that type of situation in multiple different ways.When I went from being a machine operator to actually managing people, it was obvious that my opinions mattered more than they did when I was actually on the floor machining parts.
Why, though? “When you move up the ladder, all of a sudden your opinions matter.But before, when you’re at the front of the production line where all the action is happening, you’re not worth listening to? And from all the other people I talk to in the industry and from other trades, I know it happens constantly to younger people, and to younger women, especially.I don’t want to bring gender into it, but you can tell that’s part of it.” Nush’s perspective isn’t informed solely by her own day-to-day work life, but also by the fact that she’s connected to and inspired by an entire world, largely accessed through social media, that the vast majority of the trades industries still haven’t even started to tap into.
It’s not as easy as just starting an Instagram page, though.Nush explained that, for her, what has the most impact is when companies foster a culture that simply encourages their employees to tell their story: “Hiring people is tough and keeping them is even tougher.Letting workers share their experiences is a great way to prove your loyalty to the workers you already have, and a great way to gain exposure to potential new hires, too.
“It all comes back to visibility.The more you show that you genuinely value the people who are usually thought of as being ‘in the background’, as being ‘unimportant’, the more you highlight their stories — people who are considering working for you will notice, and the message can get across that your company has created a fulfilling work culture.” From Nush’s point of view, the world is only going to keep moving more and more in the direction of this emerging culture she’s constantly trying to shed light on: “A lot of people from the older generations seem to have this attitude like, it doesn’t matter how we’re treated, we’re at work, so we work.Those days are done.
“Young people are very, very big on culture.A lot of us will accept working at a much lower paying job if the difference is that we’re actually being treated well.With how uncertain the economy is, I think that says something.” Images courtesy of Nush Ahmed Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.
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