I worked an entire career in manufacturing, in consumer products and then health care, including at the global level, not one plant (though I worked in plenty of plants). The number of people in plants is dizzying. And more plants are being planned for growth. Good jobs that pay well and have good benefits. And this nonsense that young people will never work in a factory is proven wrong every time there are good paying jobs open.
Saying that manufacturing here will not produce jobs is not only contrary to economic knowledge, it's just dumb.
I hope you will talk a little about automation, how it will impact American manufacturing. Will the nature and number of manufacturing jobs change significantly?
It already has changed a great deal. There will, of course, be more automation, but there are a LOT of products and industries that don’t tend to automate well.
The idea people have here is that all manufacturing is/will be done by robots, so why bring it home, is silly. The reason corporations left America to make their products elsewhere was cheaper labor. They need humans.
In the past 40 years, “light” manufacturing has grown, while heavy industries like steel have shrunk. Think of a Kraft Foods plant making Mac & Cheese. They are plant jobs, no doubt, but not like DeNiro and his buddies getting off the shift at the steel plant, sweaty and grimy. Different jobs that will be appreciated by employees. I’ve not worked for Kraft, but know some who have, and they are probably paying $30 an hour these days in their plants. Not Wall Street money, but better than Uber, Amazon, or Chili’s.
Anytime, Ann. I share plenty of thoughts in these pages about a lot of topics I'm only somewhat familiar with, as are many--Ukraine, tariffs, social issues, etc. But on manufacturing, it's in my wheelhouse. I don't discount anyone else's experience at this plant or that factory, but the view is often different from a larger perspective.
Everyone thinks the way to wealth and success is by writing code. I know a lot of Mechanical Engineering graduates and those with Bachelor's degrees in business who have achieved stunning success in companies that manufacture their products in America. Including one Texas A&M grad who was just promoted to Senior VP at a former employer. That's way more than a $1 million+ annual job. Not everyone gets to be SVP, of course. We hired people in management at the entry level for $80,000, and jobs in the plant paid in the $40-60,000 range. Plus, plant-level jobs in IT, HR, Finance, you name it. The #2 person in HR or Finance at a plant earns $100-150K. Wonderful jobs for which people don't have to wear business attire, and they get to wear comfortable shoes, and they have good benefits. Americans will absolutely do these jobs. They already do.
Those are good jobs. Maybe not as fancy as "influencer," but good jobs, the kind one can build an upper-middle class life on. Hopefully we'll see some come back, and/or keep more from leaving.
These are wonderfully informative comments, and again I thank you. I wish I could tell you how much I appreciate hearing some reality-based optimism for a change.
lol. I worked in a large automated factory that once employed more than a 1000 people, 3 shifts, before it became fully automated.
Now, a staff of 15 is sufficient to get the work done. Automated means AUTOMATED.
I worked an entire career in manufacturing, in consumer products and then health care, including at the global level, not one plant (though I worked in plenty of plants). The number of people in plants is dizzying. And more plants are being planned for growth. Good jobs that pay well and have good benefits. And this nonsense that young people will never work in a factory is proven wrong every time there are good paying jobs open.
Saying that manufacturing here will not produce jobs is not only contrary to economic knowledge, it's just dumb.
I hope you will talk a little about automation, how it will impact American manufacturing. Will the nature and number of manufacturing jobs change significantly?
It already has changed a great deal. There will, of course, be more automation, but there are a LOT of products and industries that don’t tend to automate well.
The idea people have here is that all manufacturing is/will be done by robots, so why bring it home, is silly. The reason corporations left America to make their products elsewhere was cheaper labor. They need humans.
In the past 40 years, “light” manufacturing has grown, while heavy industries like steel have shrunk. Think of a Kraft Foods plant making Mac & Cheese. They are plant jobs, no doubt, but not like DeNiro and his buddies getting off the shift at the steel plant, sweaty and grimy. Different jobs that will be appreciated by employees. I’ve not worked for Kraft, but know some who have, and they are probably paying $30 an hour these days in their plants. Not Wall Street money, but better than Uber, Amazon, or Chili’s.
Thanks! That,s good news!
Anytime, Ann. I share plenty of thoughts in these pages about a lot of topics I'm only somewhat familiar with, as are many--Ukraine, tariffs, social issues, etc. But on manufacturing, it's in my wheelhouse. I don't discount anyone else's experience at this plant or that factory, but the view is often different from a larger perspective.
Everyone thinks the way to wealth and success is by writing code. I know a lot of Mechanical Engineering graduates and those with Bachelor's degrees in business who have achieved stunning success in companies that manufacture their products in America. Including one Texas A&M grad who was just promoted to Senior VP at a former employer. That's way more than a $1 million+ annual job. Not everyone gets to be SVP, of course. We hired people in management at the entry level for $80,000, and jobs in the plant paid in the $40-60,000 range. Plus, plant-level jobs in IT, HR, Finance, you name it. The #2 person in HR or Finance at a plant earns $100-150K. Wonderful jobs for which people don't have to wear business attire, and they get to wear comfortable shoes, and they have good benefits. Americans will absolutely do these jobs. They already do.
Those are good jobs. Maybe not as fancy as "influencer," but good jobs, the kind one can build an upper-middle class life on. Hopefully we'll see some come back, and/or keep more from leaving.
These are wonderfully informative comments, and again I thank you. I wish I could tell you how much I appreciate hearing some reality-based optimism for a change.