this post was submitted on 13 May 2025
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Why aren't Americans filling the manufacturing jobs we already have? (www.npr.org)
submitted 2 weeks ago by Powderhorn@beehaw.org to c/usnews@beehaw.org
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A classic solution to so-called worker shortages: offer higher pay. That would probably convince workers to invest in acquiring coveted skills and enter the manufacturing workforce.

Which is one reason why Oren Cass, the chief economist and founder of American Compass, a conservative think tank, says he's skeptical whenever employers complain about worker shortages.

" I have less than zero sympathy for employers who go around complaining about labor shortages and skills gaps," Cass says. He joked that he has a side hustle, running an "incredibly innovative" biotech firm. "It employs leading scientists at $10 an hour to develop extraordinary cures. I have 500,000 job openings as well, and I have not been able to fill one of them."

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[–] The_Che_Banana@beehaw.org 28 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Anecdote: Back when I was learning my trade after I graduated I made less than a McDonald's employee (7.50/hr, FL, 1995).

However, I made enough overtime to purchase a duplex 1 street off the beach with my friend from culinary school (80k for 3br 1 ba up, 3br 1 ba down).

Can you tell me how many entry level employees can do this now????

Overtime? Fuck you, work 3 jobs at straight pay and kill yourself for the company... fucking Horse shit and I make sure the people my age who bitch about this generation 'who doesn't want to work' fucking know it.

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 15 points 2 weeks ago

Can you tell me how many entry level employees can do this now???

Yeah. Zero. Same with mid-career people who didn't buy way earlier. Wages just don't keep up with housing costs.

[–] echo@lemmings.world 23 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

We want people to work jobs that will literally break their body with no health-care, no time off, and not enough pay to buy/rent someplace to live. Who the fuck doesn't understand this?

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 11 points 2 weeks ago

Trump voters.

[–] Midnitte@beehaw.org 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

A famous saying that "everyone thinks manufacturing jobs should come back, but nobody wants to be the ones to do the manufacturing".

I'll sure as hell never screw in tiny phones screws with my bachelor's.

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You'll only use big screws?

[–] Midnitte@beehaw.org 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Certainly feels like we're getting big screwed

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 1 points 2 weeks ago

No one likes a tiny screw.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 14 points 2 weeks ago

Would our aging rail lines be able to handle the freight?

Most of the old factories in my area have either been torn down, repurposed, or are unfit. Who is going to pay to rehab them?

So many questions and zero answers.

[–] JillyB@beehaw.org 2 points 2 weeks ago

I used to be an engineer in a manufacturing plant in South Carolina. At the time, South Carolina was booming. People were moving in from all over the country due to lower housing costs. However, the plant I worked at had a labor shortage at the same time that they had huge demand. We had something like 7 new production lines in various stages of installation all at once. The issue was so acute that we were constantly running overtime and still would have to expedite orders to prevent shutting down the customer. We cancelled the twice-a-year shutdown week several times in a row, deferring needed maintenance. A facility had recently broken ground next door with plans to hire 4000 employees in a couple years.

What did my employer pay the much-needed line operators? $15/hr. For $15 you can work 6 or 7 days per week or you could work at Chick-fil-A. The company was breaking it's back in order to avoid paying people more. Rather than lowering the workload in any smart way, they just squeezed the people they had harder. I quit for that reason.