Better Together: Jake Hall, The Manufacturing Millennial

"Dark, dirty, dull, dangerous, and dumb"—that's a common misconception about careers in manufacturing, says guest Jake Hall on this episode of the Better Together podcast. Yet, according to Hall, "manufacturing is an industry that creates so much opportunity... I think it's the foundation of our economy."

As the Manufacturing Millennial, Hall talks to corporate clients and audiences around the country about automation, technology, and what they can mean for modern manufacturers when it comes to attracting young professionals. He is an experienced sales professional with deep insight into the millennial mindset—as well as the tremendous opportunities manufacturing can offer for companies willing to make the connection.

Hall graduated from Grand Valley State University with a bachelor’s in Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering and a minor in Biomedical Engineering. He will serve as the keynote speaker at the upcoming SuperCorrExpo in Orlando, FL, September 8 - 11. Check the links below to learn more about Jake Hall and the SCE event.

Homepage for Jake Hall, the Manufacturing Millennial: themanufacturingmillennial.com

SuperCorrExpo details, including program updates: supercorrexpo.org

Register for SuperCorrExpo.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to this episode of Better Together, the Paper 360 Podcast. I'm Jan Bodileri, host of the podcast and editorial director of Paper360, and I'm very excited about today's guest, Jake Hall, the manufacturing millennial. As a young professional in manufacturing, Jake began to experience firsthand a phenomenon we are always talking about in the pulp, paper, and packaging industries. The public perception of what a career in manufacturing is like, versus the reality of all that our industries truly offer to today's job seekers. Jake's going to be a keynote speaker at the upcoming Supercore Expo event. So I wanted to give our listeners a sneak peek at his advice for getting and keeping young people in manufacturing careers. Jake is a high-energy guy with some terrific perspectives, and I'm so glad to welcome him to this episode of Better Together. Well, today on Better Together, I'm really excited to welcome Jake Hall. He's known as the manufacturing millennial, and I think he's going to give us a lot of insight today in what that means and how our industries, pulp, paper, tissue packaging, can help attract some of those promising young millennial workers to our industry. Jake, thanks so much for being on Better Together.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Absolutely. It's uh it's great to be here today.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

So, Jake, I introduced you as the manufacturing millennial. Um, what does that really mean?

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, to get to get with the manufacturing millennial started, I'll dive into kind of where I got going in the industry. So um I started in manufacturing when I was in high school, working uh on the shop floor as a a broom boy, a maintenance kid, you know, cleaning the floors, all the manual mills, the bridge ports, the the welding equipment. Um, and that really gave me a good foundation on understanding how things are made and the importance of manufacturing and engineering. And I got me to go to college. I went to college, got a manufacturing engineering degree, uh, graduated from the year and then college. Uh Grand Valley State University in in West Michigan. So they have an incredible engineering program that um built into the curriculum is a required uh one-year co-op. So before you graduate, you have to have one year of experience working for a manufacturing company that accompanies your engineering degree, which is just uh it's an incredible experience where you're not graduating just with uh theory, but you know, industry applications. But so so I graduated from there, went to go work in the automation distribution world. So selling robotics, vision systems, motion control, PLCs, IO safety, all the components that go into custom automation equipment for either robotic or turnkey automation systems. And that was a great experience for me uh because I got to really have a good understanding of how all these different manufacturing industries work together with with pushing automation and technology you know further into their processes. Um, how the manufacturing millennial came about was when I was attending an association that we were a part of, it was a group of 300, 400 uh people in the audience. And one of the keynote speakers there was talking about how you future-proof your business. And you know, it was a generic call talk, it wasn't specifically towards manufacturing. But the one thing that kind of stuck away from me was they're talking about future-proofing businesses. But when I looked across that audience, I was the only person there in the age of 40 sitting in that room. Are you sure it wasn't for the pulp and paper industry? You never know. Uh and so, you know, I was um that would have been in 2019, so I would have been oh gosh, uh 30 30 at the time, 20 right around that, 30, 30 years old. And I was just thinking, well, geez, I'm a millennial and I'm in manufacturing. I feel like I'm the abnormality of attending this event with a lot of people who are older, an older generation, and I'll just be the manufacturing millennial. So that's kind of how the name manufacturing millennial came about, where it really started to take fruition was when the pandemic happened in 2020, and we were all told to work from home, unless we were essential workers. I started to um post content on LinkedIn because I thought, well, if I can't talk to people and emails are only gonna go so far, phone calls are only gonna go so far, not everyone's up to this whole Teams chat, you know, back in in 2020 that we are now where everyone uses it. People are like, What's a webcam? How do I get a webcam? You know, so for me, I was like, well, I'll just use LinkedIn as a tool because I'm connected to, you know, my customers, and and I could start talking about the industry, new technology, some other things I'm passionate about, which is um, you know, workforce attraction and how we get millennials and Gen Z excited about the industry. And from there, it it grew to the point where it wasn't just my network that was watching it, it was a lot of other people started following me and wanting to connect. And it got to the point where, hey, can you come in and talk more about this? Can you talk about a product? Can you come to a trade show? Talk about the trade show. Can you come and speak at this event? And that's kind of how the whole thing grew to where I am today with my brand is, you know, for me, I'm a I'm a massive advocate for the manufacturing space and how companies can leverage technology to make them more competitive, make them more productive, how digital solutions is is embedding with many with physical processes um to push OEE and the capability of manufacturing higher. But then also my big passion is how do we get this next generation excited? How do we get you know this next gen of millennials and Gen Z excited about the industry?

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Well, you know, honestly, speaking from a pulp and paper perspective, you are speaking our language, man, because this is exactly what our industry is experiencing right now. We're excited about what we do, right? We know what kind of cool technologies we have. I certainly was bitten by the bug when I was in my probably want to say mid to late 20s when I first saw, you know, the first time I saw a paper machine and it knocked my socks off. You know, I think I hadn't given a lot of thought to how the material was made. And I just saw so many incredible people in manufacturing, such incredible technology, and really pulling that veil back about how things are made has never stopped being interesting to me.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

Absolutely. And and the biggest issue that we face is manufacturing has this really bad stigma to it, where from the perspective of manufacturing is this dark, dirty, dull, dangerous, dumb industry, and manufacturing is this industry where the jobs left in the 80s and 90s and went overseas. And we hear the stories of how our parents or how our grandparents lost their jobs in manufacturing. Um, but you know, manufacturing is a completely different industry than it was, in my opinion, 40 years ago. Now, granted, I wasn't alive back then, but from from the stories, from the stories that I hear, it's one of those things where manufacturing is clean. Manufacturing has technology, manufacturing has opportunities for career advancements. Manufacturing is an industry that can bring any educational level onto the floor and have positions available for that, right? You can have a GED, you can have a high school diploma, and you can go and start working for a manufacturing company in a wide variety of positions. You can have an associate's degree or in skilled trades or an apprentice, and there's plenty of positions available for you. You can have an engineering degree, and there's plenty of positions. You know, that's one of those things where I think manufacturing is so unique because there's really not many other industries where you hear how this person started on an entry-level position at a manufacturing facility, and with hard work and and and dedication and continued learning, they started here and they moved up to an executive team or they moved up to a leadership position team. Yes. And it's one of those things where manufacturing is an industry that creates so much opportunity. Um, and and and my focus going back to is manufacturing is great, especially here in America, because I think it's the foundation of our economy. It's the foundation why, in so many ways, America is great today, because we make things. Um, and and and there's even a study out there where for every dollar invested in manufacturing, it adds another $2.70, like nine cents onto other industries that are impacted from manufacturing. Um, so for me, I I just think we will always, as people, consume things. We're always going to want things. Um, in a lot of areas, manufacturing has capped out with this idea of outsourcing a lot of product. More and more companies are looking at near shoring and rear shore um right and and um reshoring domestically or near shoring. And I think it's just an exciting opportunity, and especially with new technology, for people to be a part of the industry.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Hey, I agree with you a thousand percent. Um, and we really are the more things we want, the more boxes we need to ship those things in, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

So, you know, I think there's you you really touched on this, and I think there's a real misperception. Meanwhile, the pulp and paper industry is one of the top 10 industries in 40 out of 50 states.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

So how do we keep hearing that, oh, American manufacturing is dead, there aren't good opportunities. How do we get over that misconception?

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Yeah. Well, I think though the misconception, unfortunately, what I hate pointing fingers, but comes from certain people, right? I think one is um it comes from our educational system, right? When we look at our educational system, many public schools are graded on what what they do after they graduate. And most often, guidance counselors and people within the educational system are pushing people to go get a four-year degree, even if they're not it's not a great degree, right? And and I think for so long, people are the story told to millennials in my generation, which has the largest generation of student debt in America, is the fact is, hey, you get a four-year degree, you could be successful, you can do whatever you want. That might have been the case 20 or 30 years ago when the four-year degree wasn't as predominant across the workforce. But now that it exists, people are realizing that is getting a piece of paper really as valuable as work experience and an opportunity. So when we look at that, we're we're facing a stigma where the four-year degree is the best career opportunity for you, even if you're not don't know what you're gonna go into, still go get it. And and I think my generation is realizing that, hey, graduating with $35,000 in debt with a degree that might not be hireable or usable is not a great decision. Um, and unfortunately, when you looked at for so long, manufacturing was a phenomenal industry because it was one of the highest paying entry-level hourly positions within the United States. Unfortunately, that workforce that we were able to pull in and grow that the company decided to shift and say, hey, we're gonna push you to this new foundry, uh, to this this this new, you know, in focus for career development. The other thing I think we have to face is parents. Parents are, I would say, are often the biggest hurdle when I'm going to community events and I'm talking at open houses for manufacturing and and and I do a lot of student camps and STEM events where I'm talking millennials and Gen Z all the time who are in middle school and high school and saying, Hey, why don't you do this? Well, my parents think this is the best opportunity. So unfortunately, I I think the the generation has the conception of what manufacturing is or what it was and doesn't understand what it is today. And so unfortunately, it's hard to overcome that unless you show it. And so, like for me, one of the biggest things is if we can get kids as part of the school to tour manufacturing facilities for to have them walk that floor, to have them speak with professionals, it's gonna happen. But the biggest thing that we need to realize as the industry is there's never gonna be some golden bill that passes through Congress or Senate that's going to change how manufacturing is today. The change is gonna happen locally through your community. So the biggest change happens when you invest in in local schools, local community colleges, and partnerships. And that's the biggest thing that I always strive for is technology is gonna enable your company to not only be more productive, but also enable your company to be more attractive. Um, and then once you have that technology enabled, once you can showcase the positive culture that your company has, then your next job is to show outreach, to go out there and push and say, look at what we're doing. And then that's how you change and overcome that perception.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Yeah, I think that's really true. So many young professionals I've talked to in our industry, when I say what drew you to the pulp and paper industry, so many of them say, Well, I saw a paper mill.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Right. I saw a packaging plant, and it, you know, it was just exciting to see that machinery and to think I could work that machinery, to think that I could help design those boxes. That's what hooked them. But I think you're absolutely right. Um, you know, there was this whole generation, and I'm slightly pre-millennial, I guess. I'm the tail end of the baby boom here. So I was the first one from my extended family to graduate with a four-year degree. It's exactly what you said. At that time, I was told I could pretty much be whatever I wanted. If I got that four-year degree, not many people, not as many people had them, right? Um, now it's sort of table stakes. Yeah. Um, and people are still being told you can be whatever you want. And I think that is a confusing message because no one at 10 years old says, I would love to be a packaging designer. No one at 10 years old says, I want to be a water quality troubleshooter for a paper mill, right? I want to be a safety expert for a tissue plant. No one says that. They don't know that that might be extremely rewarding work, you know, both emotionally, um, socially, uh plays into the sustainability concerns, whatever is interesting to you as an adult, yeah, they don't know it's there. So it never crosses their mind to want that.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

Yeah, exactly. And and that's the big thing is yeah, as you said, it's it's it's people don't know what they want until they see it in a lot of cases, too. And unfortunately, I think our society has, you know, you can blame social media on it, you could just blame you know a generation, but this idea is everyone thinks that this fancy lifestyle of California beaches and sunshine, and you know, growing up in a three million dollar house is the only achievable option. But really, like that's the whole thing. I think, I think it gives a horrible misconception of what reality actually is. And and I think people need to realize that, for example, going and graduating from high school, going and getting an apprenticeship degree and mechatronics or an H H V C or a welder or an electrician, and then going and working 45 hours a week and making $90,000 a year doing it, and then having the opportunity to go and start your own business after you graduate, you know, after you've um get your um your certification, that's a phenomenal career opportunity. And and and it's gonna give you mostly in life everything that you're gonna ever want. And unfortunately, we have this misconception that life is all materialistic and it's gotta have so many things. And it's just it's a for many, it's a very, I don't want to say unachievable but difficult thing to have. And but at the same time, though, manufacturing, in my opinion, gives incredible career opportunities for so many people to have a phenomenal lifelong career um in a in a single industry. And I think that's what manufacturing can do.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

I completely agree. You know, a lot of young boys might say, or girls, yeah, a lot of young kids might say, I want to be a game designer when I grew up. What they really mean is I want to work with cool technology.

SPEAKER_02 17:38

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

So how do we bridge that gap, right? How do we get them to see I want to be um a social influencer might actually mean I want to have a job where I lead a team.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I think I think there's a couple of approaches when it comes to technology, right? And and you know, we're gonna dive more into this in the keynote when we, you know, for the upcoming keynote. But but for me, I I think there's multiple ways to approach technology, right? A lot of times technology in the past could have been overpriced and and wasn't integrated correctly. So therefore, manufacturers are more hesitant to look at it again, right? Because there's a lot of failed technology initiatives that go into manufacturing. However, I think today, the way technology has advanced in the last two years is at a higher ratio than what technology has in the last 20, in my opinion. And that's just because through AI and digital tools, um, making integrating of automated solutions easier to use, processing data is way easier to do. Um, but oftentimes technology can be very intimidating to older generations and the way they worked. But the great thing is about millennials and Gen Z, they are the true digital natives. They grew up completely and fulfilled and fully with internet, they grew up knowing a touch screen before push buttons, right? More than likely, every kid born after 2010 probably interacted with a touch screen before a physical button. You know, and you know, and when you think about that shift in terms of accessibility, of data, of digital technology, of you know, most key, most middle schoolers and high schoolers they might have additive manufacturing or 3D printers. So you're telling me most kids have experience with manufacturing processes when they're still in middle school. You know, you look at the you look at the growth of uh programs like First Lego League and First Technology, First Tech Challenge, and First Robotics Challenge. Now you have hundreds of thousands of students who are learning how to code and to program when they're in high school, you know, and and and they can go on a thing called YouTube and learn how to how to solve a problem that before in many cases required a four-year degree classroom to attend, right? When when people want to learn how to program, at one point in time, you had to go to a university to sit to a professor to sit behind a dedicated computer to learn how to program. You know what? A person can do that now by going on YouTube and learning how to program now.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

And like run summer cans for 10 years old, 10-year-olds on how to program.

SPEAKER_02 20:29

And that's the whole thing now. So you look at you look at that shift in what what universities used to offer, and I'm not saying 40 degrees are bad by any means. I highly recommend those two. We we we need those. We need people in STEM, we need people in engineering. However, there's other stuff out there that make me scratch my head and say, what's that for? But, anyways, uh what what what the point of the matter is that what was once very hard to reach in terms of accessibility, and accessibility now, I would say, has been democratized to free information that's on YouTube or Wikipedia or a lot of these other sources. And I think that's what makes the millennials and Gen Z so unique, is because they're they're looking for technology. If they don't see that technology on a manufacturing floor, they're turned off by it because they feel like they're stepping back in time. But at the same time, if you as a manufacturer give them technology for them to use it, implement, you're enabling them, which is what this generation wants to see.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Okay. So you say what this generation wants to see. Give me a quick bullet list. If you're a millennial looking for a career, what do you want? A lot of older people in our industry still don't understand that. What do you want?

SPEAKER_02 21:48

I think I think when we look at, you know, a reasonable paycheck is one thing. You know, obviously millennials are not going to work for free. And I think that's one thing. But like when I look at what Millennials and Gen Z's want now, they want a company that has a culture that gives them the opportunity to grow and to learn and to advance. And then more importantly, it they want to see how they as an individual can make change and impact what they do. Um, and I I think for a lot of cases, people want to be uh a part of something greater than themselves. And I think when you're a company that establishes opportunities for them to be invested in something that they can make change in, that's what they want to see. They want to they want to have the opportunity to to lead teams, to interact, to communicate. Um and if we as an industry can give those people an opportunity, we're gonna see amazing success with that. We're always gonna have the people is this, man, I just wish some people would show up to or you know, show up to a job on time. That's the case with every generation. I I think we always we always like to pick on the generation below us or that came after us. But that was with that was with every generation that was out there. But I think what we're really seeing with millennials and Gen Z's is wanting to see um the ability to make um an impact, make change, see opportunities for career growths. I think when you look at why millennials and Gen Z switch jobs so much, it's because opportunities for career advancement aren't clearly defined. Um, and it makes uh a lot of times I think companies just kind of hang stuff out in front of them and saying, hey, if you do this, you might get it, rather than saying, hey, we're gonna go send you for a training, we're gonna get you certified in this, we're gonna continue to invest in you beyond just paying you X amount of dollars every month. That's where um some amazing opportunity happens.

SPEAKER_00 23:48

I like that. So you're saying that they that a millennial workers don't only respond to the idea of opportunity, they respond better to actual engagement in that opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 24:02

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 24:03

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense to me. I think in the past, um, it was sort of assumed that you would stay regardless, right? That was always the goal of my father's generation was to be hired, as in my father's case, as uh like a truck driver delivery, you know, guy for a steel company and just stick it out, let them move you around every place until finally you're a manager. And that was his career path, and he loved it. But I think that is not exactly the path that millennials, it might be the path that millennials are looking for, but it's not the process that millennials are looking for.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

Exactly. And that's and that's the big thing that um is a difference between generations like millennials uh and Gen Z versus Gen Xers and baby boomers is is that there's not as much dedication to the company as as there was before. And if you're not seeing opportunities for advancing, you uh might have a hard hard time with retention.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

I think we need to sort of destigmatize that though. I think that that corporate um, you know, that that corporate mindset that my company or else I'll let them move me across the country with my three children and my wife, if that's what it takes. I think we need to uh destigmatize the fact that that's not a great work-life model anymore.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

Yeah, exactly. It's uh it's something that needs to change in the industry.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

I agree. So before I let you go, yeah, how do we get that as an industry? Where do you think the paths are to get that message across to really reach those people who don't realize that they actually are looking for a great career in manufacturing?

SPEAKER_02 25:56

Oh man, great question. And I wish I I wish there was a uh a direct answer that I could give that would that would change that.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

Come on, we want the one answer right now, honest for the moment, the answer.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

No, I think I think it's a combination of of a few things. One is we as the industry need to adopt technology to bring us into the new age of what what gen what our new generations want to see on the floor. Digitization, accessibility, the ability to learn through video, the ability to communicate through means. Um I think is one. If we are a factory or production floor that's still using the same processes back in the 1990s and 2000s, we aren't going to see change. The other one I would say is we as an industry need to engage more in our local communities and do a better job spreading the word on what these manufacturers in these areas, what these paper and pulp companies are doing to hire people, to invest in people, to create career growth in people. That's that's the big thing as well. The other thing I think though, the final point I'll touch on um that we really didn't cover much today is understanding how social media works. Social media is the new news network in a lot of cases. It's how we learn things, it's how our decisions are made, it's how we communicate, um, is how we define a lot of things. And we as a company to realize that social media is no longer just an outlet of where you post a line card, where you post your case study. It's it's where you highlight your culture. And if you uh if you as an organization can showcase the positive culture that you have within the company and the impact that you make outside of it, um you're gonna see a lot of improvements when it comes to employee retraction uh attraction and also retention.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

Oh, I think that's a great point. Um, so you mentioned earlier a keynote, and let me just ask you this completely softball question. Yeah. Why, Jake, if someone would like to hear more of your excellent and insightful thoughts on attracting and retaining millennials, where may where might they be able to do that?

SPEAKER_02 28:17

Well, it's funny you mentioned that. Um in September, uh, September 8th to 12th, there is the Supercore Expo in Orlando, Florida, home of Mickey Mouse and Studios. And uh I will be the uh the keynote, uh helping kick off the event. And I'm gonna be diving uh a lot more into uh manufacturing, industry trends, how the culture of manufacturing is changing through perception, of course, dive a lot more into what we talked about briefly today on how do we attract the next generation of millennials and Gen Z.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

I think it's gonna be a terrific keynote. You're gonna be at Supercare Core Expo. That is a huge event. It's only every four years. So um, people, you gotta get out to Supercore Expo, hear Jake Hall speak, um, and start attracting and retaining those millennial workers. You have what they want. You just gotta let them know, right?

SPEAKER_02 29:17

Exactly. Exactly. So it's gonna be a lot of fun. I hope to see you there, of course. Um, you know, if you see me at the show as well, stop me, say hi, love to chat to more, of course. In the meantime, uh, you always reach me out on LinkedIn as well. Just look up Jake Hall on LinkedIn, the Manufacturing Millennial, send me a message and we can chat more.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

That's terrific. Jake, thank you so much. I've really enjoyed our conversation and I've learned a lot. Um, and I appreciate you joining us on Better Together.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00 29:47

Big thanks to Jake Hall, the Manufacturing Millennial, for his thoughts on how the pulp, paper, and packaging industry can build a strong young workforce for a sustainable future. If your company can benefit from learning more about that, tell your boss you need to come to Supercore Expo in Orlando, Florida, September 8th through 12th. Just click the links on our landing page to learn about the stellar program and the range of registration options available, including a special group price for box plants. And when you're at Supercore Expo, look for me, Jan Bottelary, at the podcast table. I'd love to meet you. Until then, thanks for listening to Better Together.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

Hello everyone, this is Larry Montague, president and CEO of Tappy, the pulp, paper, packaging, tissue, and converter industry's go to resource for news, industry trends, and technical and management information. We hope you enjoy today's Better Together podcast. And remember, there are two types of people in our industry Tappy members and those who should be. Have a great day.