Despite billions in federal incentives and high-profile tariffs aimed at reshoring manufacturing, the US still can’t seem to fill its factory jobs.
While the official narrative blames skills gaps and labor shortages, the deeper story may be about cultural shifts, generational values, and the unintended consequences of financialisation.
The slacker generation 2.0
Manufacturing was once the backbone of the American middle class – a path to home ownership, stable income, and upward mobility. Today, even as demand for workers rises, fewer young Americans want these jobs.
A recent Fortune article lays out the stark generational divide: Baby boomers are retiring in droves, taking decades of experience with them.
Meanwhile, Gen Z appears largely uninterested in factory work. Despite higher wages and generous signing bonuses, companies report they can’t convince enough younger workers to join.
“The demand is there,” said Carolyn Lee, head of The Manufacturing Institute. “But the perception of manufacturing as dirty, dangerous, and dead-end persists – even though modern factories are often high-tech and clean.”
Immigration is not all bad
The problem is compounded by a drop in immigration, which has historically helped offset domestic labor shortages. Following stricter policies introduced under the Trump administration and the disruptions of Covid-19, net immigration fell sharply in recent years.
Between 2019 and 2021, the US population grew by just 0.1 percent – the slowest rate since the nation’s founding. That’s left manufacturers scrambling to staff facilities even as reshoring efforts intensify.
In 2023 alone, over 800,000 manufacturing job openings went unfilled, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And forecasts from Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute suggest the gap could hit 2.1 million by 2030.
Robots partly to the rescue
Automation is often touted as the answer. Industrial robots and collaborative robots, or cobots, are already replacing humans on the production line, increasing efficiency and consistency. But automation also reduces the number of jobs available – particularly for entry-level workers.
There’s a paradox here: The more companies automate, the fewer humans they need. Yet automation also makes factories cleaner, safer, and more technologically appealing – qualities that might attract younger workers if properly marketed.
But will it be enough? As one commentator on Business Insider observed, “You can’t create a patriotic narrative around a robot.” The cultural shift away from manufacturing – toward tech, finance, and gig work – may run deeper than any technology can reverse.
Tariffs might not work, but they’re better than nothing
President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports are intended to bring factories back to the US. While some companies have begun reshoring or nearshoring operations, the lack of available workers threatens to undermine these efforts.
Moreover, many of the reshored factories are highly automated, bringing investment but few jobs. This reality contradicts political promises of a blue-collar revival.
The issue extends beyond direct employment. Manufacturing has a significant multiplier effect: for every job created in manufacturing, an additional 2.2 jobs are generated in other sectors, such as supply chains and local services.
This means that failing to fill manufacturing positions doesn’t just impact factories – it stifles broader economic growth.
As Business Insider noted, this results in a kind of “phantom manufacturing boom” – plenty of press releases and ribbon cuttings, but not many paychecks.
Inequality and the decline of the working class
Beneath this labor-market puzzle lies a deeper economic story. The decline of manufacturing has contributed directly to growing inequality in the US.
Once a source of wealth for millions of families, factory jobs have given way to unstable service-sector work and a bloated financial industry that rewards speculation over productivity.
Today, America’s wealthiest 1 percent hold more money than the bottom 90 percent combined. The top three billionaires – Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg – are reported to collectively have more money than the entire lower half of the country.
Financialisation – the rise of abstract financial instruments and casino-like markets – has replaced real economic output as a measure of success.
When the 2008 crisis hit, it was ordinary Americans who bore the brunt of the collapse, while bankers were bailed out. “Subprime borrowers” became a scapegoat, and millions lost access to credit – entrenching poverty and homelessness.
If the US hopes to build a more equitable future, reviving manufacturing isn’t just about productivity or national security.
It’s about offering real jobs to real people – especially those without college degrees. It’s about providing stability in a system that increasingly feels rigged.
Rebuilding more than just factories
The future of American manufacturing depends not just on robots or reshoring but on restoring dignity to work itself. That means challenging cultural assumptions, reforming economic policy, and recognizing that a strong manufacturing base is a cornerstone of a fair society.
Reviving factory jobs could be one of the few remaining tools to bridge the gap between rich and poor. But unless policymakers confront the deeper forces at play – from generational disinterest in “work” itself to automation to financialisation – the reshoring boom may leave most Americans behind.
And once again, it may be the elite financiers who buy the robots and create the lights-out factories and churn out crappy products from which they make billions – by selling to the very people who were supposed to have benefited from the growth of the manufacturing sector.
