MT Magazine November/December 2025

THE INDUSTRY OUTLOOK ISSUE

FEATURE STORY

22

While declining employment is often viewed in purely statistical terms, it is important

population with manufacturing knowledge can, at least in part, explain the enduring perception that manufacturing processes remain unchanged from previous generations: dirty, dangerous, and backbreaking. However, the safety, work environment, and type of work done by people in manufacturing workplaces have markedly improved from the heyday of those cliches. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) compiles data on employer reported workplace injuries. In 1979, these injuries or illnesses were commonplace in the manufacturing sector, affecting around 13 people for every 100 full-time employees. By 2023, the last year for which statistics are available, that number had fallen to just 2.8 injuries per 100 employees, a decline of nearly 80% and quite comparable to the rate of 2.4 across all private industries. While worker safety is of paramount importance, the quality of working conditions is also an important distinction of today’s manufacturing work. Many may decry automation as the impetus for replacing workers, but in many instances, automation has made manufacturing a much more attractive career prospect because it reduces dangerous, repetitive, or time-consuming operations. This enables employees to take on newer and often higher-value-added roles in production processes, such as design and inspection, or roles that support production, such as sales, shipping, and finance. Overcoming the persistent perception that the manufacturing workplace has changed little in the past half-century is critical to attracting new workers. The latest BLS data indicates that there are more than 400,000 currently open positions in the manufacturing sector. These positions are safer and more engaging, fostering a more diverse skill set than manufacturing jobs of the past. U.S. manufacturing output continues to rise, yet the bottleneck of labor availability constrains future growth. Peaks and Plateaus With a current shortfall of about 400,000 employees and projections that this gap could reach 2.1 million unfilled jobs

to remember that declines in employment represent the loss of income for a family, and in some cases, the unraveling

of communities. Given the destabilizing effects of shifting employment trends, the overall perception of the manufacturing industry has been understandably tied to employment trends and their seismic shifts. However, it would be a disservice to overlook the numerous positive signs for the industry. Today, despite a lower level of employment, U.S. manufacturing is experiencing a golden age, as measured by output,

investment, productivity, and workplace quality. Navigating the future of manufacturing requires a straightforward assessment of where it currently stands. Efforts to restore the environment to a romanticized version of the past risk returning U.S. manufacturing to a gilded age instead of prolonging its current golden age. Shock and Attenuation Participation in the U.S. manufacturing sector reached its height in November 1943 amid the manufacturing boom necessitated by the United States’ entry into World War II. At the time, nearly 39% of all employees worked in manufacturing. Since then, the share of the workforce dedicated to manufacturing has fallen. At its employment peak in June 1979, only 21.7% of the workforce was in manufacturing. At present, employment in manufacturing has remained steady, accounting for roughly 8% of the workforce. This declining share of the workforce is indicative of a shrinking share of the population with direct knowledge of manufacturing. The growing distance between the manufacturing sector and the shrinking share of the U.S.