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5 Ways AI is Attracting & Transforming the Engineering Workforce

Oct 15, 2024

By Allison Buenemann, Product Marketing Manager at Imubit

The petrochemical industry faces a pressing skills gap. A 2023 survey from the American Chemistry Council found that nearly 40% of the workforce will retire in the next decade. This looming exodus, combined with a lack of new talent, creates an urgent workforce crisis. Deloitte (2022) highlighted that 70% of petrochemical companies struggle to find qualified candidates in the coming years. How can you bridge this gap? Closed Loop Artificial Intelligence Optimization (AIO) could be the answer.

In a recent feature published in Hydrocarbon Processing Gil Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder of Imubit, discusses the transformative role of AI in addressing the skills gap and shaping the future of the petrochemical industry.

Here are the top 5 ways that AI is critically transforming the engineering workforce:

Automating Routine Tasks: Technical employees are unburdened from manual tasks to focus on more complex, high-value work like AI-driven predictive maintenance, process optimization, and quality improvements.

  1. Accelerating Onboarding: Virtual simulations based on plant process data can be used to improve training programs, equipping workers with skills for AI-driven operations.
  2. Changing AI Perception: Ensuring that AI complements, rather than replaces, human labor has led to broader adoption across all personas in the process industries.
  3. Democratizing Technology: Making AI tools accessible and easy to use for all skill sets leads to innovation from groups without requiring programming expertise.
  4. Improving Workforce Collaboration: AI platforms can unify data from various disciplines into a low code environment, helping teams make informed, collective decisions.

With AI, you won’t replace people—you’ll empower them to excel.

“When you first hear about AI and what it has to offer, you think it’s replacing you. Then you learn it’s not there to take my job. It opens us up to a lot more.. It brings us all to one table and allows us to communicate better and create a much better, cohesive plant as a whole.”

–Justin Peninger, Console Operator, Citgo

As industries face increasing pressure to evolve, the role of AI in workforce transformation cannot be overstated. Companies that invest in AI not only optimize their operations but also create a compelling environment that attracts and retains top engineering and operations talent. For the next generation of industrial professionals, AI offers a pathway to innovation, collaboration, and a future-ready career.

Click here to read full article, as seen in Hydrocarbon Processing.

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