PLC Skills Gap: Phoenix Contact, Rockwell Push Lifelong Learning
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PLC Skills Gap: Phoenix Contact, Rockwell Push Lifelong Learning
The control engineer’s job description is being rewritten in real time. As legacy controllers age out and cybersecurity regulations tighten, the same professionals who once tuned PID loops are now expected to architect industrial networks, harden OT environments, and apply AI to process data. Phoenix Contact, Rockwell Automation and Schneider Electric argue that the only durable answer is lifelong
Detail
The message lands amid a persistent industrial labor shortage and mounting pressure to modernize. Foundational degrees in electrical, chemical or mechanical engineering remain the entry point, but employers increasingly treat certifications, internships and hands-on experience as the differentiators that determine whether an engineer thrives or stalls.
The convergence of IT and OT is no longer a strategic option , it is an operational reality. When the air gap closes, the skill set required to run a plant expands by default. Organizations that treat training as a discretionary line item will find their modernization roadmaps bottlenecked by people, not technology.
The consensus from the vendor community is blunt: a degree is a starting point, not a destination. David Enlow, senior process technical consultant at Rockwell Automation, stresses that effective process control engineers need literacy across chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering, plus computer science and networking.
Laura Hertzog, training specialist at Phoenix Contact USA, adds that institutional education in electrical, mechanical or industrial engineering opens the door , but hands-on programming, process control and instrumentation experience is what builds genuine capability.
Schneider Electric’s training portfolio reflects the same logic, spanning PAC and PLC programming, process safety, EcoStruxure Foxboro DCS and Triconex safety systems. The curriculum breadth signals that single-discipline expertise is no longer sufficient.
Cross-disciplinary knowledge spanning chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering, plus computer science and networking.
A formal engineering degree as a foundation, reinforced by programming, process control and instrumentation experience.
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