LANSING, MI—Employees at GM’s Lansing Grand River assembly plant get hands-on training on a mock assembly line.

Letters matter to welders. A, B and C, for example, are grades that employers use to determine a welder’s current ability, work assignments and pay scale. Letter A is the highest grade, followed by B and C.

FLAT ROCK, MI—At Ford’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant, 1,400 new hires are being trained using a simulated factory.

BELDEN, MS—Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi and four local community colleges are launching a program to train people for advanced manufacturing jobs.

CHICAGO—The shallow pool of skilled workers is prompting a growing number of manufacturers to implement training programs in science, technology, engineering and math.