In a bygone era, working in American car manufacturing was considered a plum job, but as Ted Evanoff writes in the Tennessean, today’s market has automakers desperately in need of educated candidates.

“Math and science are hard,” said labor market analyst Darrell West of the Brookings Institution, a research organization in Washington, told the Tennessean.  “Native-born Americans are not very interested in those fields.”

Tenneesee employees about 100,000 people in the auto industry, and the need is especially great in auto parts manufacturing. Huge automakers like General Motors need parts from their supply chain, but many can’t keep up with demand.

Politicians and educators are trying to address the problems by launching Initiatives like Tennessee Promise to subsidize tuition for those who go into these trades, and a recent program at Nashville State Community College enrolled 132 students in their engineering technology program.

But will it be enough? As automation increases in these production facilities—auto assembly plants use around 1,300 robots for every 10,000 workers—companies need skilled employees who can program and maintain complex technology and machinery.

The future of our auto industry lies on a combination of skilled foreign labor, additional education subsidies, and the growth of the number of women choosing STEM fields.