The U.S. economy added a less-than-robust 142,000 jobs in August, according to a report that also highlighted concerns over manufacturing. That sector shed 24,000 jobs last month. And beyond the loss of positions, manufacturers are having trouble finding people with the skills to fill the jobs needed to transition to “manufacturing 4.0.”
“There’s a lot of buzzwords out there, and right now, it’s manufacturing or industry 4.0, known as the fourth industrial revolution. It’s more about connectivity, analytics, and advanced manufacturing like 3D printing,” said Steve Plumb, a manufacturing industry expert who has spent most of his career in the automotive industry and is now the editor-in-chief for media at the Society for Manufacturing Engineers.
Manufacturing 4.0 refers to the utilization of technologies that entirely automate processes for decision-making across an entire product lifecycle, Plumb told The Epoch Times, adding that the transition is making it tough for the industry to find the right people to fill those jobs.
“Automation is increasing at the same time, but that brings on new challenges. It’s different skill sets. So there’s a huge effort to get new people interested in manufacturing, especially at a younger age,” he said.
In its 2024 manufacturing industry outlook, consulting firm Deloitte predicted that the manufacturing industry would continue to face “headwinds,” pointing not only to economic uncertainty, the need for product innovation, and targeted supply-chain disruptions, but also to the ongoing shortage of skilled labor.
According to The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM’s) manufacturing index, manufacturing demand remained a weak spot in the economy for the fifth consecutive month. The ISM reported that economic activity in manufacturing contracted in August for the 21st time in the past 22 months. That report also ignited a sizable Wall Street selloff.
“Demand remains subdued,” wrote Timothy Fiore, chairman of the ISM survey, “as companies show an unwillingness to invest in capital and inventory due to [high interest rates] and election uncertainty.”
Mark Hamrick, the Washington bureau chief and senior economic analyst for Bankrate.com, told The Epoch Times that the sector’s struggles have arisen from the United States carrying a disproportionate share of the weight in global manufacturing,, along with rising price levels.
Convincing American Students to Look at New 4.0 Jobs
While overall manufacturing job numbers and the sector’s economic performance continue to dip, the challenge of filling hundreds of thousands of jobs for the transition to 4.0 advanced manufacturing is also proving a daunting task.“Right now, there are 600,000 manufacturing jobs available in the United States, and it’s expected to grow to 2.1 million by 2030,” Plumb said.
In turn, several U.S. colleges have ramped up their degree programs for advanced manufacturing, but face the double-edged sword of not only needing money to invest in new classroom resources but also convincing students that manufacturing jobs can be the key to a great career future.
College-age students are possibly getting outdated descriptions and images from their parents and grandparents when they talk about what field to go into, perhaps talking about globalization but not about the many domestic opportunities that exist.
The globalization fear “is not true anymore as there’s been a big reshoring initiative underway for several years and plenty of good paying jobs,” Daniel Cox of Georgia Southern University told The Epoch Times. Cox, a professor and founding chair of the school’s manufacturing engineering department, said awareness is one of the more significant challenges in getting students to choose an educational path to engineering jobs.
“With advanced manufacturing, I think there is more, and AI [artificial intelligence] is a big topic for them. Government agencies are also starting to promote more workforce development programs in manufacturing engineering. These companies need all sorts of skills,” Cox said.
The effort to boost the job pool for the transition to advanced manufacturing, and job cuts due to the sector’s lackluster performance, have caused a sizable shift in workforce numbers, according to the ISM survey.
“Respondents’ companies are continuing to reduce head-counts through layoffs, attrition, and hiring freezes,” Fiore wrote, explaining the ISM survey results. “Sentiment in August indicated continued staff reductions compared to July, supported by the approximately 1-to-1.2 ratio of hiring versus head-count reduction comments.”
