President Donald Trump's desire to return manufacturing to the U.S. has created challenges for some companies.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, nearly half a million U.S. manufacturing jobs are unfilled. A National Association of Manufacturers survey found that nearly half of manufacturing companies said their biggest challenge is recruiting and retaining workers.
That news comes at a time when small and midsize manufacturers have seen an increase in demands because Trump's tariffs have prompted some companies to source parts in the U.S. rather than overseas, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Labor shortages make it difficult to scale up production quickly.
"You can't just plop a factory down and hope people will miraculously appear," Carolyn Lee, president of the Manufacturing Institute, told the Journal.
A company's need for workers does not always satisfy a person's need for work.
"A lot of people say they wouldn't work in a place like this because of how hard it is," Zachary Puchajda, a 25-year-old worker at Quaker City Castings in Salem, Ohio, told the Journal.
"I've seen people come and quit after a few days or a few months," said Quaker City's Cynthia Johler, a 36-year-old single mother. "[But,] I love what I do."
CNN reported in April that roughly 8% of American workers hold jobs in the manufacturing sector. In 1970, that percentage was more than 25%.
Working a manufacturing job often means shifts with rigid hours and pay averaging 7.8% lower than the private sector as a whole, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 1980, manufacturing wages were 3.8% higher.
Other challenges in hiring are misconceptions that all factory work is dirty and dangerous and there are memories of industry layoffs in the 1990s and early 2000s as factories moved overseas, the Journal reported.
"People saw what happened in their communities and may not think it's stable employment," Susan N. Houseman, an economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, told the Journal.
In late April, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs held a hearing on the U.S. manufacturing industry.
During the hearing, Chair Eric Burlison, R-Mo., discussed how burdensome regulations, especially in domestic energy production, have stifled the development of manufacturing facilities in the U.S.
Also, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., emphasized that revitalizing the manufacturing industry in the U.S. is a top economic and national security priority.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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