There are many manufacturing jobs in the US, but Americans don't want to work there.

America's manufacturing sector is on the rise after decades of decline, but it faces a major problem: a labor shortage. NPR We figured out why this happens and how to solve the problem.

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The industry has about 500 job openings, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and manufacturers can't fill them because Americans are reluctant to work in factories.

Personnel shortage: scale and reasons

A survey by the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte found that 65% of 200 companies surveyed said recruiting and retaining staff was a top challenge. Analysts predict that 2033 million new workers will be needed by 3,8, leaving about 1,9 million unfilled positions. The problem is exacerbated by the high average age of workers and the coming wave of retirements.

The Biden administration has pumped more than $2 trillion into manufacturing through the infrastructure, semiconductor, and inflation-reducing bills. That has fueled a boom in new factory construction and increased demand for labor. Trump’s tariffs could further spur more U.S. factories, further increasing demand for workers.

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Why Americans Avoid Manufacturing Jobs

Economist Gordon Hanson of the Harvard School of Government calls the current growth in manufacturing a “whiplash effect”—a sharp and uneven rise after decades of stagnation. He believes that one of the main reasons for the shortage of workers is the need for specialized skills. Modern manufacturing has come a long way from the stereotypes of monotonous work on an assembly line. Today, only 40% of manufacturing jobs are directly related to making products. The rest include research and development, engineering, design, finance, marketing, and sales.

About half of the job openings require at least a bachelor's degree, putting them out of reach for many Americans without a college degree. But even positions that don't require a degree (such as maintenance technicians, machine operators, loaders, or forklift drivers) are under-recruited.

“The skills that are most in demand are those that are involved in maintaining and repairing complex machinery,” said Caroline Lee, president of the Manufacturing Institute. “These skills don’t just happen; they take a year or two to develop, plus another year or two to adapt to a particular production.”

Another problem is the perception of manufacturing. Many Americans, especially young people, associate factories with the dirty, dangerous, low-paying work of Charles Dickens. But today’s factories are clean, high-tech spaces that employ robotics, automation, and sophisticated control systems, says Lee. Changing that outdated image is key to attracting new talent. If the industry is seen as dynamic and promising, rather than moribund, it will inspire more young people to pursue manufacturing careers.

Salaries: a solution or a new problem

Oren Kass, chief economist at the think tank American Compass, suggests a classic solution: raise wages.

"I have zero sympathy for employers who complain about the labor shortage," he joked, comparing the situation to a fictional biotech company that hires scientists for $10 an hour. Kass believes that if manufacturers pay more, they will attract workers and motivate them to learn the necessary skills.

Manufacturing companies have already begun raising wages, helping to reduce the number of job openings from a peak of 1 million in April 2022, when the industry was battered by the pandemic, mass layoffs, and early retirements. But the high wages demanded by Americans pose a new problem: They could undermine companies’ global competitiveness. Expensive labor is why many manufacturers have moved factories to lower-wage countries like China or Mexico in the past.

Kass believes that Trump's tariffs could level the playing field by protecting American producers from cheap imports. But he believes productivity is the deciding factor.

"If an American worker produces 20 times more than his counterpart in China, he can be paid 20 times more and the company will remain competitive," he explained.

The problem is that productivity growth in American manufacturing has slowed in recent years, limiting the ability to raise wages without losing profits.

Education and Apprenticeship: The Way to Solve the Problem

Experts agree that to eliminate the personnel shortage, it is necessary to restructure the personnel training system. Modern production vacancies require knowledge in the field of electrical engineering, mechanics, hydraulics, robotics and programmable controllers.

"Factories today are not what they were 25 years ago," Hanson said, adding that there aren't enough programs in the U.S. to quickly train people in these skills.

Compared with Germany or Switzerland, where 3,6 percent of the workforce participates in apprenticeships, the figure in the U.S. is just 0,3 percent. Harry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative, believes that America has overemphasized the importance of higher education while neglecting vocational training. Apprenticeships, which allow young people to learn skills on the job without an expensive college degree, could be the answer.

A prime example is the Federation of Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) program, created by Toyota in 2010 to train technicians at its Kentucky plant. FAME combines college classes (two days a week) with on-the-job training (three days a week) to teach students how to repair high-tech equipment in 2 months. Graduates of the program not only gain in-demand skills, but also are debt-free. A Brookings Institution study found that five years after graduation, FAME participants earn about $3 a year—almost twice as much as their peers without such training ($21).

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The Institute of Manufacturing is actively promoting such initiatives by creating regional partnerships between companies, colleges and local authorities.

“The best models for talent development are when manufacturers, colleges, and governments work together to create the right training channels,” Lee concluded. In 2019, Toyota transferred management of FAME to the Manufacturing Institute to scale the program nationwide.

In late April 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at expanding apprenticeship programs to prepare 1 million new workers for the “high-wage jobs of the future.” The order calls for a concrete plan, but its success will depend on funding and implementation. Without significant investment in education and promotion of manufacturing jobs, the goal may remain elusive.

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