Job Impact of Small American-Made Goods

Way back in the twentieth century, a large proportion of jobs in the US were created by the manufacturing industry. American-made jobs, like American-made goods, were abundant and easy to find. With the millennium, however, came a new trend: offshore production. US manufacturing companies turned to cheap labor in foreign countries to satisfy demand and increase profit margins—and US assembly-line workers felt the effects almost immediately.

At first, foreign-made goods seemed the answer to everything. Businesses in America experienced a period of exponential growth, profits grew, and the US economy seemed stable and healthy. Before long, however, Wall Street began to see the outline of a dark economic tunnel at the end of the fiscal light. In 2007, the housing market—which had been a house of financial playing cards for some time—collapsed entirely, bringing apparently mighty corporations down in the process.

American-made goods were scarce. The American job market tumbled and manufacturers all over the country began to fight for their corporate lives. Employment opportunities declined in number, layoffs increased, and the power of the imported-goods market soared. As unemployment levels rose, consumers became poorer and spent less of their hard-earned money. Consequently, cheaper products won over American-made goods—and the "Made in China" label became common.

Unfortunately, overseas production did not turn out to be the savior of the American economy. It undoubtedly made a select number of people rich, but it also decreased product quality, which in turn angered consumers. At the same time, outsourcing made jobs even scarcer, increasing the earnings gap between the rich and the poor in America even more.

The turning point came only recently, when consumers began to demand American-made goods over products made in China, India, and other developing countries. Simultaneously, big-box corporations in the US began to think about the ever-growing relationship between their purchasing decisions and the faltering American economy. Those two factors combined to create an atmosphere in which it became preferable to source American-made goods instead of cheaper offshore products.

Finally, the reshoring movement started to take shape. The US manufacturing industry, which had been outsourcing production for years, began to bring operations back to the US mainland and create onshore manufacturing facilities. American jobs began to increase in number—at first slowly, and then with more aplomb. Consumers were pleased with the resulting improvement in product quality and, in turn, bought an increased number of American-made goods.

Naturally, the American manufacturing industry—and the economy as a whole—has not yet fully recovered from the effects of the mass offshoring of US production. Reshoring will take time, money, and effort, but the resulting economic gains will offset these expenditures. In the long run, it seems American-made goods will indeed win the day.

(Photo courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net)