2024: Year of the Manufacturing Worker

In 2024, America’s manufacturers are set to spend a record amount on development. From semiconductors to EVs, federal measures that offer funding and tax incentives, are set to spur continued growth in the industry, according to Deloitte’s 2024 Manufacturing Outlook.

Supply chain breakdowns during the COVID pandemic threw a spotlight on the fragility of our current economic system and prompted renewed attention to one of our nation’s most important sectors. This concern was made manifest in passing The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The impact so far? Since 2021, nearly 200 new clean technology manufacturing facilities have been announced—representing US$88B in investment—which are expected to create over 75,000 new jobs. As of July 2023, annual construction spending in manufacturing stands at US$201 billion, representing a 70% year-over-year increase and setting the stage for further industry growth in 2024.

However, there are hurdles. One of the concerns for manufacturers is the average lead time for production materials has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Cybersecurity is increasingly important to consider. But labor remains the most significant risk.

To keep their people, between Q1 FY2022 and Q1 FY2023, there has been a 4% rise in the average hourly earnings of manufacturing employees. In a recent survey conducted by NAM, 46.8% of surveyed manufacturing companies offer flexible scheduling to production workers.

Today, manufacturers are not only engaged in digitizing their supply chains, developing augmented reality (AR) interfaces for applications, and finding ways to best deploy devices like IoT sensors to optimize energy use, but also developing paths for young workers. Leaders are committed to improve employee attraction and retention by leveraging digital tools and fostering partnerships within the local community, seeking to recruit and train more diverse talent.

All of which is to say, this is a great time to start a manufacturing career! It’s also exciting because national policy, like the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, is often just that: rhetoric at a national level that remains remote from our daily lives. Maybe this still seems very abstract and boring and irrelevant. But if you, like me, live in a state like Ohio, where manufacturing is still the single most productive sector in our economy, you may begin to see the impacts trickling down.

These reports indicate that federal policy has genuinely changed conditions for manufacturing workers, creating more opportunities for companies to invest in attracting and training their workforce. These are real opportunities in our Columbus community - Ohio is at the very heart and center of the manufacturing “renaissance.”