Michigan Manufacturing Archives

21 Michigan Worker Deaths So Far in 2026: The Safety Rules Employers Can’t Ignore

An elevated, wide-angle photograph taken from a high vantage point looks down onto a modern manufacturing factory floor, where a diverse group of seven people are gathered in a circle around a whiteboard for a meeting. In the center, a woman with dark, short-hair wearing a plaid shirt and jeans points to a whiteboard that has "hazard Board" and a simple diagram on it. Facing her are six other people: two other women and four men of varying ethnicities. Most of the attendees are holding papers and listening attentively. One woman on the right has her hand raised. They are all wearing casual but professional work clothes, such as jackets, hoodies, and polo shirts. The concrete floor of the factory is marked with yellow lines. In the background are various pieces of industrial machinery, including large grey CNC machines, conveyor belts, and open-front shelves with blue storage bins on the right side. A metal storage rack with tools is also visible. The large, open industrial space is brightly lit.

MIOSHA reports 21 Michigan workplace deaths in 2026. Employers running flexible labor face a second, quieter risk: unverified workers.

Michigan Laid $6 million on the table. Why will most manufacturers not pick it up?

A medium-wide, eye-level shot inside a clean manufacturing facility, viewed through a clear glass partition. In the center, a male executive in a light blue dress shirt and grey slacks stands on a low platform, shaking hands with a young woman in dark blue industrial work clothes while presenting her with a framed certificate. They are flanked by a diverse group of coworkers in shop and business-casual uniforms who are smiling and applauding. The background features bright, even factory lighting, tidy workbenches, and large industrial machinery.

Michigan just handed out $6M more in Going PRO training grants. Most eligible manufacturers still aren’t applying. Here’s why that’s a mistake.

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OSHA Is Watching Factories This Week. Here’s Why.

close-up shot of a stainless steel water cooler dispenser on a factory floor. Heavy condensation and water droplets bead down the metal surface of the tank. Next to the dispenser tap is a tall stack of small disposable paper cups, with one translucent cup filled with water sitting in the foreground on the metal tray. The background is a softly blurred, shallow-depth-of-field view of an industrial manufacturing plant, featuring steel pillars, distant machinery, warm overhead lighting, and a small red sign acting as a color accent.

Michigan’s back-to-back heat waves are hitting factory floors hard. Real data, real fixes for workers and employers, before OSHA shows up.

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Michigan Just Told Manufacturers Something They Can’t Afford to Ignore

Two manufacturing professionals review real-time production flow analytics on a large digital display inside a modern Michigan manufacturing facility, representing the intersection of skilled workforce management and AI-driven operational data."

Michigan’s AI workforce data is flashing clear signals. Manufacturers who ignore the skill gap now will pay for it in production later.

advanced manufacturing AI skills gap AI upskilling AI workforce development artificial intelligence jobs Going PRO Talent Fund labor market trends Lightcast data Manufacturing Workforce Michigan Economy Michigan labor Michigan Manufacturing Michigan workforce Michigan Works Staffing Solutions West Michigan employers workforce agility workforce reskilling workforce training

Turnover Is Expensive. You Know What’s Cheap? A Bike.

20 year old woman parks her red bike in a bike rack at a warehouse facility.

A Bike Changed Everything. Seriously.

For most people, getting to work is an afterthought. You grab your keys, maybe stop for coffee, and show up. For a growing number of workers, though, the gap between having a job and keeping a job comes down to something far simpler — how to get there.

Transportation barriers are one of the most underreported drivers of workforce instability in America. No car. No bus route that works. No money for an Uber at 5 a.m. These are not excuses. They are the daily math that millions of people do before they ever set foot on a job site. And when the numbers do not add up, they call off. And when they call off enough, they lose the job. And the cycle starts over.

At WSI, we see this play out in real time. A reliable associate goes dark. A client calls frustrated. The reason, more often than people expect, traces back to a busted transmission, a cancelled ride, or a bus that does not run that early.

So when our Senior Account Manager Ben Heyn met Upcycle Bikes Executive Director Rick Armbruster at a Resource Fair at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, he did not just shake hands and move on. He saw a solution.

Upcycle Bikes is a Grand Rapids-based nonprofit that takes donated bicycles, refurbishes them, and distributes them free of charge to adults facing financial hardship. The numbers behind their work are striking — 87% of recipients come from households earning less than $35,000 annually, and 83% use that bike as their primary transportation for basic daily needs. In 2025 alone, they placed 1,214 bikes through a network of 44 distribution partners, backed by more than 3,100 volunteer hours.

These are not recreational riders. These are people getting to dialysis appointments, grocery runs, and yes — jobs.

Ben spent the better part of several months building a formal partnership between WSI Grand Rapids and Upcycle Bikes. The result is straightforward and powerful. When a WSI associate misses a shift due to a transportation issue, we now assess the situation and, where it makes sense, offer them a free refurbished bike — complete with a helmet, lights, and a lock.

That is not a perk. That is infrastructure.

Upcycle Bikes x WSI Talent

National Bike Month 2026 | Grand Rapids, MI

A free bike.
Your job.
Both secured.

WSI associates in Grand Rapids facing transportation barriers can now receive a free refurbished bike through our partnership with Upcycle Bikes.

Upcycle Bikes

WSI Talent GR

Every bike includes -- at no cost

Refurbished bicycle

Helmet

Front + rear lights

Bike lock

Talk to your WSI contact

Transportation trouble affecting your shifts? We have a solution.

→

1,214

bikes placed in 2025

83%

rely on bike as primary transport

distribution partners

upcyclebikes.org | wsitalent.com

The cost of turnover to employers is well documented. Recruiting, onboarding, lost productivity — it adds up fast. If a bike worth a few hundred dollars keeps a solid worker employed and a client’s line staffed, that math is not complicated.

What Ben built reflects something we believe at WSI — that being a workforce partner means more than filling orders. It means understanding the real barriers people face and doing something about them when you can. Upcycle Bikes is doing extraordinary work in the Grand Rapids community, and we are glad to be part of extending that reach.

Transportation should not be the reason someone loses their shot. Now, for some WSI associates in Grand Rapids, it will not be.

To learn more about Upcycle Bikes, visit upcyclebikes.org

charity Community Engagement community partnerships employment free bikes get to work hiring jobs Michigan Manufacturing staffing Staffing Agency transportation workforce development

SNAP on Hold. Why Factories Will Feel It First

Two factory workers in hi vis jackets stand in a staggered line facing a mobile food pantry truck at dusk, watching the volunteer inside as warm light spills onto the cold factory lot.

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Michigan’s Workforce on the Edge and the Employer Strategies That Work

male worker close up in factory. he's wearing a safety vest and looking at the camera.

Discover how Michigan employers tackle workforce hardship with living wages, flexible schedules, and emergency savings to boost retention and engagement.

employment jobs labor market Michigan Manufacturing Staffing Agency workforce development wsi

Free Money Alert: $16M in State Grants Up for Grabs for Michigan Manufacturers

Going PRO Talent Fund: $16 Million to Power Michigan’s Manufacturing Comeback

Remember when “training” meant a two-minute safety video and someone’s cousin giving you a crash course on the forklift? Those days are as extinct as flip phones—thanks to Michigan’s Going PRO Talent Fund. In Fiscal Year 2025 Cycle 2, Governor Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) just dropped $16 million into the pockets of 297 businesses statewide to level up nearly 8,000 employees through real, industry-recognized training programs.

Why Manufacturing Leaders Should Care

If you’re running a large-scale manufacturing operation, you know your biggest asset isn’t your shiny robots or CNC machines—it’s your people. And right now, there’s never been a better time to tap into state grants that make training almost free. Here’s the skinny:

Scale and Diversity: Of those 297 businesses, 86% are small-to-mid-sized, proving that both Main Street fabricators and big OEM suppliers can play. And training spans a range of sectors—advanced manufacturing, food production, clean energy, even healthcare equipment.

Immediate ROI: Businesses will upskill 4,691 current employees and onboard 3,227 new hires (including 1,788 apprentices!). Workers typically pocket a 7.2% bump in their hourly wage post-training—so happier, more skilled staff and a healthier bottom line, anyone?

Apprenticeship Power: Michigan ranks 4th nationally for active registered apprenticeships, with over 22,000 participants across 850 programs. That’s a ready pipeline of talent who know your tools, processes, and—critically—your culture.

More Than Just Free Money
What separates a flash-in-the-pan grant from a real workforce strategy? Customization and sustainability. Going PRO grants are designed in partnership with local Michigan Works! agencies, so training isn’t a one-size-fits-all slide deck. It’s tailored classroom instruction, on-the-job coaching, or credentials that matter in your shop.

“We connect employers to funding that ensures Detroiters can walk the path to success,” says Dana Williams of Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation. The payoff? Reduced turnover, higher productivity, and a reputation as an employer that invests in people—critical when every plant manager is competing for the same handful of welders and machinists.

Big Picture: Building Michigan’s Middle Class
Since 2014, Going PRO has trained 225,000 workers and supported 7,400 businesses. But these aren’t just stats—they’re real people getting promoted from grunt work to skilled technician, from unsteady temps to registered apprentices with credentials that travel across industries. Governor Whitmer’s FY 2026 budget even recommends $54.8 million more, signaling that Lansing sees talent pipelines as essential infrastructure. The Michigan Going PRO Talent Fund opened up submissions in March and will remain open until funds are exhausted. Click here to learn more and apply for your business!

Action Steps for Manufacturing Execs

Audit Your Skills Gaps
Partner with your local Michigan Works! Service Center. Identify your biggest choke points—robotics programming? PLC troubleshooting? CNC maintenance?

Map Out Training Paths
Choose programs that align with your growth plans: short-term certificates for quick wins, apprenticeships for deeper skill sets.

Leverage the Grant
Apply for Cycle 3 (watch Michigan.gov/TalentFund for deadlines) and secure up to 75% of training costs covered.

Showcase Success
Promote your investment in people—both internally and externally. It’s a recruiting magnet and a PR win.

At the end of the day, free money is great—unless it just sits in an email inbox. By proactively designing training that matches your production needs, you’ll turn that $16 million into a ramped-up workforce, lower turnover, and a stronger Michigan manufacturing ecosystem.

apprenticeship programs Business Growth economic growth Michigan Employee Retention employee upskilling employer resources free training funding Going PRO Talent Fund industrial training manufacturing comeback manufacturing training Michigan grants Michigan Manufacturing Skills Gap Solutions state grant programs talent fund awards talent pipeline training grants guide workforce development workforce grants

Wall Street Journal Recognizes WSI as Best and Brightest Company to Work For in the Nation

At Workforce Strategies Inc. (WSI), we believe that a workplace thrives when its people do. We are honored to be recognized in the Wall Street Journal on February 19, 2025, as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation.