Reshoring Adds Jobs, Not Necessarily Growth

Those who think the future of manufacturing employment looks bright should look no further than Detroit. Once known as the automotive hub of the United States, the city now has dozens of shuttered manufacturing plants and thousands of people out of work. With reshoring jobs, companies hope to add new jobs for workers, but early reports indicate that adding these jobs doesn't necessarily equal growth.

The peak of manufacturing employment in the United States occurred in 1979 when the nation had more than nineteen million jobs available. That number fell to less than twelve million by 2011, and despite several companies creating jobs in the manufacturing industry, the country isn't seeing much growth or expansion. The country lost more than six million jobs in a ten-year span, but manufacturers hope to add eleven million new jobs by 2020. Metal manufacturing will likely grow in the Southeast and Great Lakes regions, while the Far West will see an increase in wood manufacturing.

According to Simon Nixon, the rise in reshoring relates to the number of issues that employers face when leaving the United States. In the 1980s, companies began moving overseas and outsourcing jobs to foreign countries. A Bangladesh factory, used by a popular Western company, collapsed in 2013, which led many companies to question the ethics of working overseas. Companies now realize that foreign countries often have poor safety standards, which can severely affect a company's products. The same companies that originally left the U.S. are the same ones looking to increase manufacturing employment because those companies realize that political issues and environmental dangers are too high in other countries. Those working overseas must also worry about the cost of transporting items back to the United States and properly training workers to create those products.

Americans tend to think that as manufacturing employment rises, so too will the growth of different industries. Net income refers to the amount of money that a company makes after expenses, while net growth refers to how much that money grew in a single year. The government approves of reshoring because it increases manufacturing employment jobs in the country, but the increase in those jobs doesn't mean those industries will grow. Many of these jobs require specialized training or a college degree, which unemployed workers might lack. Though several industries brag about creating jobs, those jobs are only replacing the ones previously lost.

The increase in manufacturing employment jobs seems like a good thing because it reduces unemployment and pumps money back into the economy. Based on market figures, it seems as if these jobs will only help certain regions and areas of the country grow. Until manufacturing employment rises across the country, the net growth of those industries and companies will likely remain stable without any signs of growth.

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