The Skilled Labor Crisis in Automation: Why We’re Tackling Training

Your next automation project is going to be delayed. Not because of supply chain issues. Not because of budget constraints. But because you can’t find enough skilled engineers to build it.

This is the reality facing the material handling industry right now. Companies like Amazon, UPS, FedEx, and

Walmart are racing to automate their operations. Distribution centers need sortation systems. Airports need

baggage handling upgrades. Fulfillment centers need mobile robots and AI-powered vision systems.

The demand for automation has never been higher. But there’s one critical bottleneck: we don’t have enough

skilled controls engineers to build these systems.

 

The Problem is Getting Worse

When Covid hit, everything changed. E-commerce exploded. Supply chains broke. Suddenly, every company

realized they needed to automate faster than they ever planned. The number of automation projects doubled, tripled in some cases. But the number of qualified engineers? That stayed exactly the same.

 

Over the past two years, the skilled labor shortage has gone from “difficult” to “crisis mode.” Projects are

delayed by months because engineering teams can’t be staffed. Quality suffers because companies are forced to

hire people who aren’t ready. Costs skyrocket because experienced talent commands premium rates.

 

Why Traditional Education Isn’t the Answer

Here’s what makes this problem so frustrating. The skills needed to be a controls engineer don’t actually require

a 4-year college degree. Most universities don’t even offer a controls or automation engineering major. When companies hire “controls engineers,” they’re usually hiring electrical engineers, computer engineers, or mechanical engineers. Then they spend 6-12 months training them on PLCs, HMIs, SCADA systems, and all the other tools actually used in the

field.

 

There are people out there who would make excellent controls engineers. People who are good with logic and

problem-solving. People who enjoy hands-on technical work. People who want a stable, well-paying career

without spending four years and $100,000+ on a traditional college degree.

But there’s no path for them to enter this industry.

 

The Workers Getting Left Behind

This extends beyond just new graduates. Machine operators and maintenance technicians with 10, 15, 20 years

of industry experience are watching their jobs disappear as automation increases. They understand how material

handling systems work. They have valuable hands-on experience.But they need to upskill fast. They need to learn PLC programming, electrical troubleshooting, and system diagnostics. A 4-year college degree isn’t realistic for someone with a family and a mortgage. They need something faster, more affordable, and focused on exactly what employers are looking for. Trade schools that teach controls and automation simply don’t exist in most places.

 

How We’re Solving This

At TSquare, we’re building a training program specifically designed for the material handling and automation

industry. Not a generic degree program. Not a broad technical curriculum that barely touches on automation. A

focused, practical training program that teaches exactly what employers need:

 

  • PLC programming (Allen Bradley, Siemens, Schneider)
  • HMI and SCADA development
  • Electrical troubleshooting and panel design
  • Real-world project experience using emulation and simulation

Our goal is simple: take someone with little to no experience and turn them into a job-ready controls engineer in

a fraction of the time and cost of a traditional degree.

We’ll measure success by one metric that actually matters – how many of our graduates get hired. Not how many

students enroll. Not how much content we create. But how many people we help break into this industry and

build a career. The skilled labor crisis in automation is real. It’s getting worse every month. And we’re doing something about it.

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