Must-Read: Dan Gross: How to Bring Back Manufacturing Jobs

Must-Read: Dan Gross: How to Bring Back Manufacturing Jobs:

America has a long-running crisis in manufacturing employment….

Year after year, the number of people employed in making things declines…. Across the board–on both sides of the aisle, in every part of the country–there is an overwhelming desire to have more manufacturing jobs. This is partly due to nostalgia and symbolism. But… also… the manufacturing jobs that have been lost (and that remain) offer better pay, benefits, and job security than the service jobs that have replaced them. What’s more, manufacturing has a big multiplier effect…. If they were being honest, politicians would note that the vast majority of the millions of manufacturing jobs lost can’t return… globalization and competition… rendered obsolete by technology… the value and volume of stuff factories produce tends to rise each year, even if employment falls, because software, machines, and computers are doing more of the work….

The level of skills and competencies manufacturing employers are seeking in their employees may be significantly higher than the level they were seeking 10, or 20, or 30 years ago. In most instances, especially in service industries such as retail and food service, labor shortages can be solved by the simple application of higher wages. But when it comes to manufacturing, higher wages may be only part of the solution. Sure, you can entice a skilled operator of machine tooling to walk across the street by doubling her salary. But if the market–i.e., other companies, the educational system, and training programs–hasn’t been endowing sufficient numbers of workers with those skills, higher pay will only get you so far. The most direct way to bring back manufacturing jobs, then, may be for companies to decide that they are prepared to invest in programs or direct efforts that will produce workers with the skills they need. The solution to outsourcing production elsewhere may be to insource training…