Employee Competence Development Strategies for Industry 4.0 Readiness: A Case Study in the Manufacturing Sector

Fitriani Fajar; Yohan Fitriadi; Inganatul Khasanah

doi:10.30640/jmcbus.v4i3.6877

Authors

Fitriani Fajar Universitas Sali Al Aitam
Yohan Fitriadi Universitas Putra Indonesia YPTK Padang
Inganatul Khasanah STAINU Pacitan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30640/jmcbus.v4i3.6877

Keywords:

Competence Development, Employee Competence, HR Strategy, Industry 4.0, Manufacturing

Abstract

This study aims to analyze employee competence development strategies in facing the Industry 4.0 era within the manufacturing sector. Industry 4.0 transformation has encouraged manufacturing companies to adopt digital technologies, automation, smart production systems, and data-driven decision-making. These changes require employees to possess not only technical skills but also digital literacy, analytical capability, adaptability, collaboration, and readiness for continuous learning. This study employs a qualitative approach with a case study design. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation involving parties directly engaged in competence development, such as human resource managers, production managers, supervisors, training officers, and production employees. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis through data reduction, coding, theme categorization, interpretation, and conclusion drawing. The findings reveal that employee competence development strategies are implemented through competence needs mapping, technology-based technical training, digital literacy improvement, upskilling, reskilling, work-based learning, supervisor mentoring, and periodic competence evaluation. The findings also indicate that the main barriers to competence development include digital literacy gaps, resistance to change, limited training time, production target pressure, and differences in employees’ adaptive capabilities. This study concludes that the success of Industry 4.0 transformation in the manufacturing sector is strongly determined by the alignment between technology strategy and human resource development strategy. The contribution of this study lies in strengthening the understanding that employee competence development should be viewed as a strategic, continuous, and integrated process rather than merely a short-term technical training program.

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