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Losing (and finding) manufacturing jobs
May 2, 2007
1. No good news on job numbers…The one-year anniversary of the ADP National Employment Report shows the manufacturing sector losing 42,000 jobs last month – an across-the-board loss in all sizes of business. This came even as private-sector employment jumped by 64,000 jobs, fueled by a huge jump in service sector jobs of more than 100,000.
The job decline isn’t unexpected as American manufacturing reconfigures its workforce to meet global demands for our good and services. What isn’t clear in these reports is whether we are actually losing jobs, or losing workers who aren’t being replaced. Anyone have any figures on that?
2. But is this worse? Because the Alliance for American Manufacturing continues to tout the 3.2 million manufacturing jobs lost and places the blame solely on restrictive trade policies. That’s an easy explanation, and it IS partly true. A lack of American innovation, a shortage in engineering graduates sticking around to work in U.S. manufacturing and a general sense that American manufacturing isn’t a stable job for a young person today is a bigger issue. Or put it this way: If all 3.2 million jobs came back tomorrow, what would they make?
3. At the other end… Is NAM, which AAM criticized in its opening salvo last month as being too pro-business and not enough pro-labor. Reading the NAM blog, you can see AAM’s point. NAM does have a specific problem with Lou Dobbs, so we share that, and the two groups do share the same side of the fence on trade issues with China (though NAM takes a more conciliatory view toward free trade agreements). Manufacturing shouldn’t just be about preserving jobs for the sake of the jobs, or preserving profits in the hope of creating jobs later. It should be about making things people want, and if everyone would get out of Washington for a few weeks, it might clarify the problems and point to the solutions.
4. Here’s someone who understands: A quick quote form an article on the PlantEngineering.com Website from Dennis Cocco, president of Activplant: “I feel sorry for plant managers. They’re dealing with a highly chaotic environment.” Cocco was talking about the proliferation of information on the plant floor today and the thinking needed to wade through the information jungle. It’s worth pondering…
5. Because we haven’t had anything fun for a while…A story and video on the absolute rarest of baseball feats – and it’s not a perfect game.
Posted by Bob Vavra on May 2, 2007 | Comments (1)
