From Hospitality to Manufacturing: Building a Midwest Talent Pipeline

The Midwest has long been defined by its manufacturing strength. Yet as global competition, technological advancements, and workforce shortages reshape the sector, employers are looking beyond traditional talent pools. One promising—yet often overlooked—pipeline is the region’s hospitality, retail, and service industries.

Skills Hidden in Plain Sight

Frontline service roles are often dismissed as “entry-level jobs,” but they demand high-value skills that manufacturers increasingly need. Workers in retail and hospitality master communication, multitasking, problem-solving, and customer service—all vital in a modern production environment that prizes collaboration and quality.

As one Midwest workforce leader put it: “The soft skills employers are desperate to find already exist in workers who have been serving our coffee, managing retail floors, and coordinating busy restaurants.”

Research since 2020 shows that employers who broaden their hiring criteria and invest in skills-based hiring strategies can better navigate worker shortages. For example, a National Skills Coalition report (2022) highlights that transferable skills—like teamwork and adaptability—are often more predictive of job success than industry-specific experience.

Breaking Down Barriers

Despite the potential, barriers remain. Many workers don’t see manufacturing as accessible or welcoming, while employers hesitate to hire candidates without direct technical training. Overcoming this requires intentional alignment between industry, educators, and workforce development groups.

Key Barriers:

• Misperceptions about manufacturing jobs
• Lack of awareness of transferable skills
• Limited training bridges between sectors
• Cultural mismatch in recruiting approaches

To address this, Midwest communities have piloted programs connecting service-sector talent with manufacturing employers. For example, Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development partnered with technical colleges post-2020 to design “earn-and-learn” programs, where former service workers receive short-term technical training while working in entry-level production roles.

Solutions for a Stronger Pipeline

Building sustainable pipelines requires more than one-off training programs. It calls for systemic strategies:

1. Skills-Based Hiring – Employers should adopt hiring models that evaluate applicants for problem-solving, reliability, and communication, not just prior technical experience.
2. Short-Term Credentials – Technical colleges can provide stackable certifications that bridge the gap between service-sector experience and manufacturing careers.
3. Employer Branding – Manufacturers must shift the narrative from “dirty and dangerous” to “innovative and high-tech,” helping workers envision a future beyond customer-facing roles.
4. Public-Private Partnerships – Collaboration between workforce boards, employers, and community colleges is essential to scale solutions.

As one Midwestern manufacturer shared: “Our future depends not just on robots and automation—but on people whose skills are already here, waiting to be recognized.”

Another Midwest manufacturer emphasized the long-term career potential: “Once individuals have been in fast food or retail for a while, they might decide they want a car or to get married, and those jobs might not support their goals. We try to focus on the fact that it is not just a skill set but part of the economic reality that manufacturing careers can provide a better long-term career.”

Looking Ahead

The Midwest faces a critical workforce moment. Employers can either continue fighting over a shrinking pool of candidates—or rethink where talent is found. By reimagining hospitality and service workers as tomorrow’s machine operators, quality technicians, and supervisors, manufacturers can not only solve today’s workforce shortage but also build a more inclusive, future-ready economy.

Action Steps for Employers:

• Partner with local workforce boards and technical colleges
• Pilot skills-based recruitment in frontline roles
• Offer mentorship and on-the-job training
• Celebrate success stories of non-traditional hires

Conclusion

The Midwest’s story has always been one of reinvention. Just as factories once shifted from wartime production to consumer goods, today’s challenge is reshaping workforce strategies. The solution may be closer than we think—found in the resilience, adaptability, and service mindset of workers who have kept the Midwest running in hotels, restaurants, and retail shops.

As a regional workforce advocate said: “If we want a stronger manufacturing future in the Midwest, we must value the talent we already have.”

Sources:

National Skills Coalition. (2022). Skills-Based Hiring Report.

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. (2021). Workforce Innovation Reports.

Manufacturing Institute. (2023). Workforce Development Trends.