Contributors Acknowledgements Sydney Alabaster Engagement Manager, McKinsey & Company Project Fellow, the Global Lighthouse Network Thomas Bohne Founder and Head, Cyber-Human Lab, University of Cambridge Henry Bristol Associate, KKR Capstone, USA Cameron Carr Chief Strategy Officer, Flex Chen Lucheng Chairman and General Manager, COSMOPlat Laure Collin Senior Vice-President, Human Resources, Global Supply Chain, Schneider Electric Paul Cumbo Founder and Owner, PJC Editorial Memia Fendri Content Curation and Operational Excellence Lead, Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains, World Economic Forum Jennifer Han Chief Product Supply Chain Officer, Foods, Unilever Faisal Haroon Head, Manufacturing Management, Nestlé Jackie Jung Vice-President, Global Operations Strategy and Corporate Sustainability, Western Digital Zongchang Liu Chief Data Officer, Foxconn Industrial Internet Jorge Rascon Vice-President, Operations, Security & Emtek, Fortune Brands Innovations Benjamin Schönfuß Initiative and Community Lead, World Economic ForumSatchie Snellings Specialist, Programming and Communications, World Economic Forum Bart Talloen Executive Fellow, World Economic Forum Federico Torti Initiatives Lead, Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains Francesca Zanolla Lead, Strategic Integration, Artificial Intelligence, World Economic Forum We are grateful to our colleagues at McKinsey & Company who provided research and thought partnership, including: Tim Bacon, Enno de Boer, Yueyang Chen, Keyshawn Felton, Will Godwin, Ezra Greenberg, Eric Leon, Randy Lim, Nick Lopez, Robert Malongo, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi, Nick Ryniak, Rahul Shahani and Amira Tobasi. We would also like to thank the companies that participated in the Frontline Talent of the Future Initiative pilot: Aramco, The Coca-Cola Company, First Solar, Flex, Fortune Brands Innovations, Haier COSMOPlat, Nestlé, Schneider Electric, Unilever and Western Digital. Production Laurence Denmark Creative Director, Studio Miko Will Liley Editor, Studio Miko Cat Slaymaker Designer, Studio MikoTyler Freeman Associate Partner, Co-Lead, Frontline Workforce of the Future Service Line, McKinsey & Company Dylan Lambert Associate, McKinsey & Company; Project Fellow, Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains, World Economic ForumBrittany Means Associate, McKinsey & Company; Project Fellow, Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains, World Economic ForumLead authors Putting Talent at the Centre: An Evolving Imperative for Manufacturing 38

Putting Talent at the Centre An Evolving Imperative for Manufacturing 2025