Insights from KAM’s 2025 Wage & Workforce Study
We recently released our annual Wage & Workforce Study report, which gives an up-to-date snapshot of the manufacturing workplace in Kentucky. Typically, we’ve asked manufacturers to share what their starting wages are for production jobs. For 2025, we added a question about wages in those same jobs for someone with five years of experience. This revealed some encouraging data about the upward path of manufacturing careers.
Kentucky’s Future in Aerospace
NASA recently analyzed the U.S. aerospace industry workforce and discovered that there will be a shortage of approximately one million workers by 2030. The “aerospace industry” is a term that may be new to many folks who are not already involved. It includes jobs ranging in complexity from operating a metal stamping machine, to programing precision machining tools, all the way to engineering positions. That prompted NASA to call on states to develop proposals for “aerospace career hubs” which would bring a new influx of talent from rising generations.