Every HR team in manufacturing knows the feeling. A role opens up, the posting goes live, and the applicant pool that comes back is thin, unqualified, or both. The instinct is to fix the hiring process. Write a better job description. Screen faster. Interview smarter.

But none of that solves the actual problem. There simply aren’t enough trained candidates entering the workforce to keep up with demand. How can companies find a sustainable solution to not only their hiring bottlenecks but the impending industry skills gap?

The Smart Automation Certification Alliance (SACA) gives industry and education a shared language, a way for companies and schools to agree on exactly what a job-ready candidate looks like.

Finding the Future Workforce

Most hiring strategies in manufacturing are reactive by design. A role opens, a posting goes live, and HR waits to see who shows up. When the applicant pool is thin, the response is usually to widen the search radius, raise the pay rate, or loosen the requirements. None of that addresses why the pool was thin in the first place.

Reactive hiring also puts every company in direct competition for the same small group of experienced workers. That competition drives up costs and slows down time-to-fill, and it does nothing to grow the overall supply of qualified candidates. Two companies can fight over the same five applicants for months and the regional skills gap doesn’t shrink by one person.

Pipeline building works differently. Instead of competing for talent that already exists, companies help create it. Partnering with local schools means candidates show up already trained on the systems and processes your company actually use, often before they’ve applied anywhere. There’s a time, talent and treasure cost to it, but it’s lower than the cost of months-long vacancies, rushed hires, and the turnover that tends to follow them.

SACA certifications – the shared language of manufacturing skills – is the best way to build alignment between what local education is teaching in their Career and Technical Education programs, and the skills your company is hiring for.

Rob Ferguson, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at Ashley Furniture Industries confirms, “As awareness grows, SACA certifications provide a valuable tool for identifying qualified candidates and aligning talent with the demands of advanced manufacturing. More broadly, increasing HR community awareness of SACA helps strengthen the pipeline of skilled, industry-ready talent.”

Steps to Build Your Pipeline

1. Identify Local SACA Members

There may already be students learning the skills you need in your community and not even know it. Take a look at our current member institutions to see if any are near you and initiate the conversation. If no one is a member, reach out to your local schools and share about SACA and how industry certifications can be beneficial to both organizations.

2. Participate in Advisory Boards

Many SACA member institutions have industry advisory boards specifically for this purpose, and they are looking for local employers to fill them. Showing up to an advisory board meeting costs a few hours a year. What it buys is influence over curriculum, early visibility with program directors, and a reputation among faculty as an employer who is invested in student outcomes. That reputation travels. Instructors remember the companies that showed up and recommend them to graduates who are ready to work.

3. Offer tours, speakers, and career fairs

Once you have your partner schools – its time to be a partner. Get the students excited about what you do. Most students will only go for careers they are exposed to, so be that exposure. Offer times for students to come in and see the innovation happening in their community. If they can’t come to you, go to them. Offer your current employees the chance to go talk directly to the community.

4. Develop internships and co-ops

Once you have established your company as a recognizable entity for students, offer to get them in the door early. Depending on the programs local to you, some may require an internship as a graduation requirement. These opportunities are a great way to get students immersed in what your company does and on a direct path to employment.

5. Create a clear hiring pathway

Clearly define what SACA certifications relate to your jobs – both entry level and beyond. This allows learners to see that the skills they are learning in school can immediately get them roles in the field. Then they can see how stacking SACA’s micro-credentials build on the skills they have and grow into promotions.

Sustainable Workforce Development

The first year of a school partnership might produce a handful of interns or one or two strong hires. That’s not the point yet. The point is what happens in year three, when a company has a relationship with multiple instructors, a standing presence at career days, and a reputation among students as a place worth applying.

At that stage, the pipeline starts running on its own. Each graduating class includes students who already hold SACA credentials, already know the company’s name, and in many cases already have program directors recommending them by name. Time-to-fill drops because the search doesn’t start from zero. Onboarding gets faster because new hires arrive with verified skills.

Building a school partnership from scratch can feel like a big lift, especially when open roles need to be filled now. But the manufacturers who have done it will tell you the same thing: the hardest part was making the first call. What came after was a lot simpler than expected, and a lot more valuable than another job posting ever would have been.

At Capital Area Career Center, students are gaining hands-on technical skills and earning SACA certifications before they ever set foot on a production floor. National manufacturers like Rivian Automotive already recognize SACA as a gold standard, which means those students aren’t just graduating with a credential. They’re graduating with proof of what they can do, backed by the same standard the industry is hiring to.

Learn 3 Reasons World-Class Manufacturers Hire Candidates with SACA Certifications.

Are you a school looking at preparing your students for a career in Industry 4.0? Learn more about Education Memberships here.

Want to learn more about the best use cases of SACA certifications across the country? Join us at the SACA National Conference August 10-11, 2026 in Menomonie, WI.