The Hurdles in Rebooting US Manufacturing

Rebooting U.S. manufacturing is the goal of both political and industry leaders in the United States. However, overcoming the hurdles involved in rebooting America's manufacturing sector requires significant resources. Lack of training, low wages and a reliance on imports all work together to slow the manufacturing sector's potential growth. Each of these hurdles must be taken down before the manufacturing sector can grow at its maximum speed.

One of the biggest hurdles involved in rebooting U.S. manufacturing is finding trained workers with the skills needed to handle modern manufacturing work. The manufacturing sector still involves factory line operator work, but it is also in need of a large number of highly skilled employees with backgrounds in robotics, computers, programming and mathematics, among other disciplines.

Experts have noted that this manufacturing skills gap is likely to affect the speed at which U.S. manufacturing can grow. The Manpower company, for example, reported that energy industry jobs may quickly outnumber available candidates to fill those jobs. Although training programs are in place to bring potential manufacturing employees up to speed, it takes time to complete a training program and be ready to start a highly skilled manufacturing job.

Rebooting U.S. manufacturing is also dependent upon overcoming a reliance on imported products. These imports allow American consumers to purchase low-cost products but often come at the expense of the U.S. manufacturing sector. What many Americans don't realize is that even when products are labeled "made in the USA," often the individual components are imported from other countries.

Take televisions, for example. As the Wall Street Journal notes, the United States had 150 television manufacturers during the 1950s, but today does not have a single factory that manufactures television components. Instead, manufacturing televisions in the U.S. requires importing components from China. This type of "manufacturing boost" provides jobs and gives consumers the opportunity to purchase products that are technically made on American shores, but this reliance on imports is a significant obstacle in the way of rebooting U.S. manufacturing.

Lastly, rebooting U.S. manufacturing is dependent on providing competitive wages to manufacturing workers. Although manufacturing jobs require more skills than in the past, wages have remained steady and have even lost value due to inflation. If the best manufacturing job candidates are able to earn more money in other industries, the manufacturing sector loses its top workers. A manufacturing company that is not experiencing a lot of growth may not have the ability to pay competitive wages, trapping itself in a vicious cycle. This is a serious hurdle to overcome.

Overcoming the hurdles involved in rebooting U.S. manufacturing will take sustained effort from both manufacturing companies and the U.S. government. Political leaders are already working to provide incentives for manufacturing companies to grow, as well as educational opportunities for workers to learn high-level manufacturing skills. With effort, the manufacturing sector may gain what it needs to begin moving forward at full speed.

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