The Future Workforce Won't Build Itself

Krystle Morrison’s recent Food Industry Executive article, A Quarter of Food Plant Workers Retire by 2030. Then What?, she highlights a workforce challenge that food manufacturers can no longer afford to view as a future problem.

A growing percentage of manufacturing employees are approaching retirement age, and many food processors will see dozens—or even hundreds—of experienced workers leave the workforce over the next several years.

But Morrison correctly points out that the greatest loss isn't headcount. It's expertise.

The People Who Keep Your Plant Going

Every facility has operators, maintenance technicians, and supervisors who possess years of practical knowledge that was never formally documented. They understand how equipment behaves under changing conditions. They recognize problems before alarms activate. They know where processes drift, where quality issues begin, and where operational shortcuts create risk.

That knowledge improves uptime, quality, food safety, and productivity every day.

And in many facilities, it's at risk of disappearing, so Morrison's recommendations to start capturing now is both practical and necessary. She suggests you:

• Shadow shifts
• Conduct operator interviews
• Record processes
• Document engineering conversations
• Host knowledge-transfer sessions

We agree completely. The retirement timeline is real, and the window to preserve institutional knowledge is smaller than many organizations realize.

But capturing knowledge is only the first step.

The larger challenge is ensuring that knowledge can actually be learned by the people who come next.

Documentation Doesn't Equal Learning

One of the strongest points in Morrison's article is that automation can only learn from what has already been documented. Before manufacturers can leverage AI, predictive maintenance, or advanced analytics, they first need to capture the expertise that exists only in the minds of experienced employees.

That's absolutely true.

But there is an important distinction between capturing knowledge and transferring knowledge.

A 60-minute interview with a retiring maintenance technician may contain decades of valuable expertise. A notebook from a shadow shift may document lessons learned over twenty years. A collection of operator videos may capture troubleshooting techniques that have never been written down.

Those resources are incredibly valuable. But they are not training.

Where Most Organizations Fall Short

The challenge is that people don't learn the way organizations typically document information. They learn through relevance. Through context. Through visual examples. Through repetition. Through practical application.

This is where many knowledge-transfer initiatives fall short. Organizations successfully capture information, but they never convert it into learning.

The opportunity is to take the raw material Morrison describes—interviews, observations, videos, and institutional knowledge—and transform it into learning experiences that align with how adults actually learn and retain information.

That's where custom training from WorkForge becomes so powerful. Instead of simply documenting expertise, organizations can convert it into onboarding content, maintenance training, troubleshooting resources, micro-module learning, and role-specific development programs that continue creating value long after an employee retires.

Building the Talent You Can't Buy

Morrison also highlights another reality manufacturers are facing: the replacement workforce isn't waiting in the wings.

The traditional approach of "hire and train as we go" assumes a labor pool that is readily available and capable of growing into increasingly skilled roles. The article correctly points out that this assumption is becoming harder to sustain.

Modern food manufacturing facilities require employees who can operate sophisticated equipment, interpret data, understand automation, and make informed decisions in highly regulated environments.

Those capabilities don't appear overnight. And they often can't be hired off the street. They have to be developed.

That's why the retirement conversation isn't just about preserving knowledge. It's about creating capability.

The organizations best positioned for the next decade will be those that intentionally build the workforce they need. That starts with structured onboarding and continues through role-based training, cross-training initiatives, career pathways, and ongoing development that helps employees gain competency faster and more consistently.

The expertise being captured from retiring employees should not be viewed as historical documentation. It should be viewed as the foundation for developing future operators, maintenance technicians, supervisors, and leaders.

The manufacturers that win this transition won't simply preserve knowledge.

They'll use it to build talent.

Why SQF Edition 10 and BRCGS Raise the Stakes

There is another reason this conversation deserves attention.

Food safety standards increasingly focus on competency, training effectiveness, and food safety culture—not simply documented procedures.

Both SQF Edition 10 and BRCGS place significant emphasis on ensuring employees are trained, competent, and capable of performing their responsibilities consistently. Auditors are increasingly interested in how organizations develop employees, reinforce critical behaviors, and maintain organizational knowledge over time.

A documented procedure may explain what to do. An experienced employee often understands why it matters.

When that practical expertise leaves the organization without being transferred, competency gaps can emerge. Those gaps can impact consistency, operational performance, and ultimately food safety outcomes.

Capturing knowledge is an important first step.

Transforming that knowledge into effective learning helps organizations go much further. It strengthens competency, supports food safety culture initiatives, reinforces training effectiveness, and helps ensure critical expertise remains embedded within the organization.

Looking Beyond Retirement

Krystle Morrison's article asks an important question: what happens when a quarter of food plant workers retire by 2030?

The answer begins with capturing what they know.

But the manufacturers that emerge strongest from this transition will take the next step. They'll transform expertise into learning, learning into competency, and competency into the next generation of skilled workers.

Because preserving knowledge is important.

Making sure future employees can understand it, apply it, and build upon it is what creates lasting value.

The future workforce won't build itself.