Through the ongoing implementation of tariffs, President Donald Trump is forcing companies to start producing goods in the U.S. — but that may not be achievable in the short term.
Federal data reveals that nearly half a million manufacturing jobs remain unfilled as workers move toward better-paying careers.
Although new factory construction has tripled in the past five years, recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the manufacturing sector lost 7,000 jobs in June.
The manufacturing industry currently employs older workers who are near retirement and factory jobs of today require a high level of skill.
Stephen Kates, a financial analyst for Bankrate, says the days of stamping out metal with a hammer are gone.
"Manufacturing jobs today are not unskilled labor," Kates said. "They're actually extremely skilled labor. Most of these jobs need bachelor's degrees. Sometimes even advanced degrees, because you're dealing with a lot of high-end technology."
Kates also says employers need to attract well-qualified candidates by offering higher pay, benefits and relocation incentives.
"A lot of people with higher-end skills might gravitate towards the coasts, the New York, the LA, the San Francisco areas and a lot of the new manufacturing plants that are being built around semiconductors and other things are not in those places."
Kates says schools will need to expand their curriculum to include more courses in technology-driven production.
"High-end manufacturing is probably not the first type of category that comes off the list at career services at most colleges in the U.S. It may need to start becoming a little bit of a higher priority if we're going to start to fund the kind of jobs that we need and and fill those jobs that are open," he said.
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And forcing companies to produce everything made in the U.S. is not a change that's going to happen overnight.
"It's going to be something that we're going to have to put in a lot of effort and intention in, probably for at least a decade, and that's going to be a starting point."
Reviving the industrial base of America is a lofty goal for the Trump administration that will likely require more than just tariffs.
President Trump signed an executive order in April to create one million registered apprenticeship programs.
But it's unclear how that will be achieved since his administration's budget will cut workforce development by $1.6 billion.
