Closing The Engineering Skills Gap - With Parker Burke

Send us Fan MailThe engineering skills gap is already shaping what factories can deliver, how reliable our assets can be, and how quickly new infrastructure can scale. We’re joined by Parker, president of Fluke, and we dig into what we’re hearing from the next generation of technicians and engineers and what leaders can do right now to make these careers easier to discover and harder to ignore.A highlight comes from our time with students at Texas State Technical College. The talent pipeline isn’t “one type” of person: we meet people straight out of high school, veterans bringing a decade of service, and career changers who want a fresh start and a future they can control. That range forces a rethink of how we talk about the trades, reliability engineering, and technical careers. When we clearly explain the menu of opportunities, from working globally to owning your own business, we give people a reason to lean in.We also get practical about education and early exposure. Schools are moving beyond traditional shop class into modern STEM programmes, including robotics, 3D printing, and automation. The goal is to make hands-on learning engaging and fun while still building real skill. Parker shares how Fluke supports the next generation through internships, training, and partnerships that put current tools into classrooms, and we connect those skills to high-growth areas like data centres where power quality and reliability matter every day.If you care about workforce development, manufacturing, and keeping great people, you’ll take away a simple message: meaning and mentorship are not “nice to have”. They are the system. Subscribe, share this with someone starting their career, and leave us a review with your answer: what first pulled you towards engineering or the trades?Support the show