# How Large Organizations Can Help Close the Skills Gap with PPG's Divya Thadani

- Show: [Manufacturing Happy Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour)
- Published: 2022-05-03
- Length: 33m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-05-03-how-large-organizations-can-help-close-the-skills-gap-with-ppgs-divya-thadani
- Listen: http://manufacturinghappyhour.com

## Summary

Divya Thadani, who leads strategy and business development for PPG’s architectural coatings business in the US and Canada, discusses closing the manufacturing skills gap and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at large organizations. She shares how her entrepreneurial upbringing in India and her move to the US for college shaped her resilience, and explains how PPG is investing $20 million by 2025 in educational programming for underrepresented communities. Thadani details the impact of the pandemic on labor shortages and how digital transformation enables more flexible, inclusive hiring and work structures.

## Chapters

- [0:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-05-03-how-large-organizations-can-help-close-the-skills-gap-with-ppgs-divya-thadani#t=41) Introduction: Divya Thadani and PPG
- [2:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-05-03-how-large-organizations-can-help-close-the-skills-gap-with-ppgs-divya-thadani#t=168) Entrepreneurial Roots and Resilience
- [6:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-05-03-how-large-organizations-can-help-close-the-skills-gap-with-ppgs-divya-thadani#t=389) Moving to the US and College Experience
- [9:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-05-03-how-large-organizations-can-help-close-the-skills-gap-with-ppgs-divya-thadani#t=570) Making Education Accessible to Underrepresented Groups
- [12:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-05-03-how-large-organizations-can-help-close-the-skills-gap-with-ppgs-divya-thadani#t=742) Forces Driving the Skilled Labor Shortage
- [18:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-05-03-how-large-organizations-can-help-close-the-skills-gap-with-ppgs-divya-thadani#t=1116) PPG’s Investments in Education and DEI
- [20:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-05-03-how-large-organizations-can-help-close-the-skills-gap-with-ppgs-divya-thadani#t=1230) PPG’s DEI Journey and Digital Transformation
- [28:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-05-03-how-large-organizations-can-help-close-the-skills-gap-with-ppgs-divya-thadani#t=1723) Driving Cultural Change and Final Advice

## Topics

- [Hiring & workforce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/hiring-and-workforce)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Policy, trade & tariffs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/policy-trade-and-tariffs)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- PPG (company)
- A3 (company)
- Nesby (company)
- College of Wooster (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Diversity in the Manufacturing Sector w/ Andrew Crowe and Justin Sherman](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2021-07-27-diversity-in-the-manufacturing-sector-w-andrew-crowe-and-justin-sherman) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [The Learning Factory: Closing the Skill Gap Starts with Education w/ Mike Nager](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2021-11-16-the-learning-factory-closing-the-skill-gap-starts-with-education-w-mike-nager) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [The NFL Draft, The NBA Draft and... The Manufacturing Skills Draft? w/ Dr. Jason Scales](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2021-08-10-the-nfl-draft-the-nba-draft-and-the-manufacturing-skills-draft-w-dr-jason-scales) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [The Critical Shift: Bridging the Generational Gap in PCB Design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2024-03-26-the-critical-shift-bridging-the-generational-gap-in-pcb-design) (OnTrack)
- [The Shared Responsibility of Upskilling the Workforce w/ Bill Berrien](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-03-14-the-shared-responsibility-of-upskilling-the-workforce-w-bill-berrien) (The Manufacturing Executive)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-05-03-how-large-organizations-can-help-close-the-skills-gap-with-ppgs-divya-thadani. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Manufacturing Happy Hour.