The Labor Shortage is a Symptom; Culture is the Crisis
Throughput Show Episode 1 featuring Jim Mayer (originally aired 08/29/2025)
This week’s episode challenges one of the most common narratives in manufacturing today: the labor shortage. Every news cycle repeats the same line — “Nobody wants to work anymore.” Manufacturers blame workers, workers blame employers, and leaders point to generational decline. But what if the shortage isn't the problem? What if it's the symptom?
Our guest, Jim Mayer, argues that we’re not facing a workforce crisis — we’re facing a culture crisis. With more than two decades of industry experience in communications, workforce development, and storytelling, Jim helps manufacturers create cultures that attract and keep talent instead of burning it out.
Below is a summarized breakdown of the conversation — the key arguments, the uncomfortable truths, and the cultural shifts manufacturers need if they want to win the future.
The Skills Gap Is Not New — And It Didn’t Happen by Accident
We talk about the skills gap as if it appeared overnight, but Jim explains that it’s been forming for more than 40 years. A combination of offshoring, the collapse of vocational education, and decades of messaging that told young people manufacturing wasn’t a future worth pursuing left us with fewer skilled workers — by design.
We eliminated the pathways, then blamed the generation that never had access to them.
If manufacturers want better talent, the industry can’t wait for schools to fix it — companies must build the development internally.
Wages Reveal the Real Problem
If there truly was a labor shortage, the price of labor would rise. Instead, inflation-adjusted wages for machinists and similar roles have fallen roughly 20% since the 1990s. The work is essential — but the compensation doesn’t reflect it.
Jim calls it like it is: “A shortage shows up in price. If wages aren’t rising, we don’t have a labor shortage — we have a value problem.” If we want talent, we have to pay like talent matters.
The Crisis We See Isn’t the Crisis That’s Killing Us
Hiring struggles are just the visible pain. Retention problems, leadership gaps, and cultural breakdown sit beneath the surface and do far more damage. Recruiting can’t solve turnover. No amount of hiring fixes a workplace people don’t want to stay in.
The question isn’t, “How do we get more people?” It’s, “How do we stop losing the ones we have?”
Culture Isn’t Something Your Website Says — It’s What People Experience
Every manufacturer has a culture. The difference is whether it was designed on purpose or formed by default.
Values aren’t wall art. They are behaviors, and the worst behavior the company tolerates becomes the real policy. Culture breaks when accountability only flows downward. It thrives when it runs both ways — the floor can challenge the boss, and the boss is willing to listen.
Jim shared his CDR framework for building meaningful culture:
Connect. Know people by name, story, and strength.
Develop. Growth is retention.
Respect. Fairness and clarity matter more than perks.
Culture isn’t what leadership says. Culture is what workers feel.
Change Works When Employees Build It, Not When It’s Forced On Them
Top-down initiatives rarely last because they require compliance. Bottom-up ideas work because they create ownership.
Jim shared one powerful tool: a “You Said / We Did” wall. Employees submit ideas, leadership selects feasible changes, then posts what has been implemented. Visible progress builds trust, and trust builds buy-in.
People resist what’s done to them — and rally behind what’s done with them.
Key Takeaways
The labor shortage is the symptom — the culture crisis is the root
Wage stagnation reveals a value problem, not a talent shortage
Recruiting doesn’t fix turnover
Retention is the cheapest form of hiring
Leaders must develop employees, not wait for them to arrive fully trained
Accountability must exist at every level
Culture is behavior — not branding
Employees support change they helped create
Q&A From the Episode
How do we rebuild basic skills in younger workers?
We can’t expect what we didn’t prepare them for. Schools no longer teach trades, so manufacturers must be willing to develop talent internally.
Should leaders really teach life skills?
Maybe they shouldn’t have to — but doing so creates connection, loyalty, and long-term stability on the floor.
How do we drive change without force?
Involve the workforce in the solution. When people author ideas, they support them.
What does accountability look like done right?
Top-down and bottom-up. Leaders model behavior, and the floor is empowered to hold them to it.