Not Your Mom’s Machines: The Next Generation Of American Manufacturing Is High-Tech, Skilled Labor
The U.S. Navy is beginning to build 12 top-of-the-line nuclear submarines, with the first one scheduled to be completed by 2027. But it is missing a critical ingredient: many of an estimated 50,000 skilled workers to get the job done. It also lacks a reliable supply chain and the infrastructure to build the massive vessels.
Across America, industries are facing enormous supply chain delays, worker shortages and places to build due to several decades of offshoring and deemphasizing manufacturing research, education and training in the U.S.
For example, the textile industry is experiencing a 20% worker shortage, and the metal fabrication industry expects a 400,000-worker shortage by 2024. The first decade of the 21st century alone saw U.S. manufacturing jobs decline by one-third, falling from 17 million in 2000 to below 12 million in 2010.