Key takeaways:
- Digitization extends beyond traditional tech jobs and can be found in almost every industry.
- Employers need to take a holistic and systems approach involving all stakeholders to solve the workforce crisis.
- Reimagining and better marketing traditional roles can attract younger generations to pursue high-value, high-demand jobs.
During the 2025 Detroit Auto Show’s Industry Days, MichAuto Senior Director Drew Coleman engaged in an insightful conversation with Lightcast’s Director of Enterprise Research, Rachel Sedenberg, and Senior Consultant Susan Koehn.
Their discussion covered key topics of the Detroit Region’s talent transformation in the automotive and mobility industry, from the changing labor market dynamics, the role of digitization and green skills across industries, and how businesses can leverage Lightcast, MichAuto, and the Detroit Regional Chamber’s recent findings from their recent Mobility and Employability study, Motor City Renaissance: Detroit’s Talent Transformation in the Mobility Sector.
Examining Labor Market Dynamics and Workforce Demographics
Sedenberg opened the discussion by examining the current state of the labor market, which has undergone significant shifts in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and evolving workforce demographics both in the U.S. and globally.
“We see an aging labor force as the Boomers head into retirement age [and] we simply had fewer babies, so there are fewer young people entering the labor market,” Sedenberg said.
Sedenberg also highlighted the varying experiences of workers based on their education levels.
“Workers with a bachelor’s degree are fighting a tougher battle right now to get into jobs, while workers with less than a bachelor’s degree are having a very different experience,” she said. “We have a very much bifurcated labor market experience at this time.”
The Integration of Digitization and Green Skills in the Modern Workforce
The discussion continued focusing on the critical shift in today’s workforce: digitization is no longer confined to traditional tech sectors—it’s now woven into virtually every industry.
“It’s in places that it wasn’t necessarily before,” Sedenberg said. “Tech is everywhere: software development, programming languages, automated services … all throughout many different industries, be it construction, manufacturing, the skilled trades.”
Another growing trend across industries? Green skills.
Sedenberg described green-enabled workers as those who possess traditional expertise for a role but also bring specialized skills in EV charging, battery waste management, or wiring for sustainable systems. However, such workers are in short supply, presenting a significant opportunity for employers, educators, and job seekers alike.
Developing green skills can open doors to future-focused roles for workers, particularly as industries transition to hybrid and electric vehicles. Educators can adapt their curricula to include these emerging skills, which Sedenberg notes are often closely related to existing programs, making it possible to “[future-proof] the next group of workers coming into the labor force.” Meanwhile, employers can address skill gaps by upskilling their current workforce, fostering better retention while avoiding the challenges of hiring fully trained new employees.
Innovative Approaches and Collaborative Solutions to Bridging the Talent Gap
Coleman continued the discussion by emphasizing the need for research to tackle systemic talent challenges in the automotive and mobility sector, which is why the Chamber and MichAuto partnered with Lightcast to produce their Mobility and Employability study.
The study uncovered several key findings:
- The growing demand for software, computer, and digital skills
- That many critical skills are already concentrated in the Region
- That equity gaps exist, including an underrepresentation of women and overrepresentation of Black and Hispanic workers in lower-paying roles
One finding Coleman found particularly surprising was how well-positioned the Region is to adopt and evolve skillsets and occupations, leveraging its existing legacy infrastructure. He was also struck by the breadth of opportunities available—not only for entry-level roles or positions requiring bachelor’s degrees but spanning a wide spectrum of skill levels.
“Each of those [opportunities] comes with a specific value proposition,” he said. “[And] regardless of where you’re starting— if you’re on the workforce, or if you’re a K-12 system, a community college system, a third-party provider of service training, or a higher-ed university—there is a place in that spectrum that can be supplemented by your efforts.”
Coleman also stressed the report’s emphasis on investing in high-value, high-demand traditional jobs that have not been invested in for decades.
“We’ve used this term, the war on talent, for [nearly] 28 years, when it was first coined, [yet] we’re still in that spot,” he said. “And the reason [we are] is because we’re not taking a holistic view and looking at [it from] a systems approach, from a partner’s approach, from a K-12 to PhD, from a community services organization to a workforce organization to a technical development organization, to an industry partner.”
He emphasized that this is a call to action to “look at the data [and] bring that big net approach to solving this problem.”
Koehn added that one strategy for employers is to reimagine and better market traditional roles, which have long struggled with outdated perceptions.
“They’ve had a marketing problem where younger people might not think, ‘Hey, I should be a tool and die maker, and it’d be a great career for me,’” she said.
Koehn further pointed out that this issue extends beyond the automotive industry. The data reveals that the messaging problem is reflected in the average age of workers for many jobs that offer long-term career pathways and stability.
“This is such a broad issue at scale to align the workforce of today with the jobs of tomorrow,” Sedenberg added. “But at the end of the day, it’s really a one-on-one. It’s a hyper, micro, highly local, highly one-on-one solution [that] involves every capable educator, career counselor, and employee at a company, from the CEO to the recruiter on the ground. [They all need] to be in lockstep with this approach to make these pathways actualized.”