Is there a new generational interest in US manufacturing employment?

A shortage of semiconductors hampered auto production in 2021, sending used car prices higher and fueling the spike in US inflation. — © AFP

New survey data shows that 83 percent of the so-termed Gen Z cohort are open to or likely to consider trade jobs, while 78 percent of another marketing demographic – Millennials – share the same viewpoint.

Overall, younger demographics are showing increased interest in moving into some form of trade-related occupation, unlike the Baby Boomers and Generation X cohorts.

This is based on a recent survey conducted by ARC (American Revitalization Company), a real estate and business development firm.

Data from the National Association of Manufacturers further bolsters these findings, revealing the sector’s substantial economic contribution. In Q4 2023, manufacturing injected $2.89 trillion annually into the U.S. economy, with every dollar spent in manufacturing generating a total economic impact of $2.69.

As of May 2024, the sector provided employment to nearly 13 million workers. It is also a resource hungry sector as the survey reveals: all industrial users consumed 33.25 quadrillion Btu of energy in 2022, or 33.5 percent of the total.

In terms of what areas of ‘trade’ are the most appealing, when asked to select an industry, 46 percent of respondents preferred manufacturing over other trade jobs.

There are challenges, however, as a McKinsey report points out: “Gen Z workers say they’re open to jobs in manufacturing. But getting them to take these jobs, engage, and stay will mean changing a work environment long optimized for machines, not people.”

The survey also recovered a nationalistic and protectionist element, suggesting that over 80 percent of people living in the U.S. consider manufacturing essential to the U.S. economy. This strong sentiment was followed up with views expressing the desire to see manufacturing operations, where the operation has left the U.S., to be relocated to or retained on ‘American’ soil. Some 54 percent expressed concerns about the negative implications of outsourcing manufacturing operations.

This perhaps suggests that the U.S. association with the free-trade neoliberal economic model is declining.

According to Steve Austin, partner at ARC: “Americans understand the vital role that manufacturing plays in the U.S. economy.”

He adds: “Americans recognize that manufacturing was critical to building our nation’s economy during the Industrial Revolution, its continuing importance to our current economic health, and they want to restore its presence meaningfully. At ARC, we are committed to ensuring this happens.”