Tuesday, September 03, 2013
Tweet[IWS] CRS: JOB CREATION IN THE MANUFACTURING REVIVAL [19 June 2013]
IWS Documented News Service
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Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
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Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Job Creation in the Manufacturing Revival
Marc Levinson, Section Research Manager
June 19, 2013
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41898.pdf
[full-text, 17 pages]
Summary
The health of the U.S. manufacturing sector is of intense interest to Congress. Numerous bills
aimed at promoting manufacturing have been introduced in Congress, often with the stated goal
of creating jobs. Implicit in many of these bills is the assumption that the manufacturing sector is
uniquely able to provide well-paid employment for workers who have not pursued advanced
education.
U.S. manufacturing output has risen significantly over the past four years as the economy has
recovered from recession. This upswing in manufacturing activity, however, has resulted in
negligible employment growth. Although a variety of forces seem likely to support further growth
in domestic manufacturing output over the next few years, including higher labor costs in the
emerging economies of Asia, higher international freight transportation costs, and increased
concern about disruptions to transoceanic supply chains, evidence suggests that such a resurgence
would lead to relatively small job gains within the manufacturing sector.
The past few years have seen important changes in the nature of manufacturing work. A steadily
smaller proportion of manufacturing workers is involved in physical production processes, while
larger shares are engaged in managerial and professional work. These changes are reflected in
increasing skill requirements for manufacturing workers and severely diminished opportunities
for workers without education beyond high school. Even if increased manufacturing output leads
to additional employment in the manufacturing sector, it is likely to generate little of the routine
production work historically performed by workers with low education levels.
As manufacturing processes have changed, factories with large numbers of workers have become
much less common than they once were. This suggests that promotion of manufacturing as a tool
to stimulate local economies is likely to meet with limited success; even if newly established
factories prosper, few are likely to require large amounts of labor.
Contents
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1
Employment in the Manufacturing Sector ....................................................................................... 1
The Changing Character of Manufacturing Work ........................................................................... 4
The Disappearance of the Large Factory ......................................................................................... 8
Start-Ups and Shutdowns ............................................................................................................... 10
Selected Policy Issues for Congress .............................................................................................. 12
Figures
Figure 1. Manufacturing Output and Employment .......................................................................... 2
Figure 2. Growth in Manufacturing Since Cyclical Trough ............................................................ 2
Figure 3. Manufacturing Employment by Occupation .................................................................... 5
Figure 4. Manufacturing Employment by Worker Education .......................................................... 7
Figure 5. Manufacturing Employment by Gender ........................................................................... 8
Figure 6. Jobs Created by Establishment Openings ....................................................................... 11
Figure 7. Jobs Lost Due to Establishment Closings ...................................................................... 11
Tables
Table 1. Manufacturing Employment by Industry, 2001-2012 ........................................................ 4
Table 2. The Size Distribution of Factories ..................................................................................... 9
Table 3. Factories with More Than 1,000 Workers by Industry ...................................................... 9
Table 4. Manufacturing Employment by Establishment Size ........................................................ 10
Contacts
Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 14
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