Americans strongly value manufacturing’s role in U.S. competitiveness and economic stability, but many have doubts about its long-term prospects, new survey findings indicate.

The majority of the United States public continues to view manufacturing as a vital contributor to the nation’s quality of life, its overall economic health and its global standing, a new study says.

Based on a survey of 1,000 Americans across all 50 states last month, the latest annual report from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute indicates that 86 percent of Americans believe manufacturing is “important” or “very important” to their standard of living, while 79 percent believe a strong manufacturing base should be a national priority. Moreover, when respondents were asked if they could create 1,000 new jobs in any local industry, manufacturing topped the list.

Respondents also ranked manufacturing second in the list of industries most important to maintaining a strong national economy, behind the energy industry but ahead of health care, technology, financial services, retail and communications.

Nevertheless, Americans have serious doubts about the future performance of manufacturing and are reluctant to join the industry themselves, the survey found. Only 7 percent of respondents said they expect the manufacturing sector to become stronger in the long-term future, while 55 percent expect it to become weaker.

“There is an unfortunate disconnect… between respondents wanting manufacturing jobs in their community and pursuing those very job opportunities for themselves,” Emily Stover DeRocco, president of the Manufacturing Institute, a non-partisan affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers, said in an announcement of the findings.

“[O]nly one-third of parents would encourage their child to go into manufacturing, which translates into a major workforce pipeline issue,” DeRocco continued. “This, in turn, becomes a U.S. manufacturing competitiveness issue because we know that an educated and skilled 21st century workforce is the most important factor behind innovation and business success.”

Seventy-seven percent of Americans fear the loss of domestic manufacturing jobs to other countries, adding to the belief that manufacturing is not a stable long-term career path. Among respondents aged 18-24, manufacturing is ranked last among industries in which they’d choose to start their careers. With the industry reportedly facing a sizable wave of upcoming retirements, a talent shortage could hurt manufacturers’ ability to compete and grow in the global economy.

Americans’ reluctance to join the manufacturing workforce stems primarily from concerns that manufacturing jobs are less accessible than they should be, worries about manufacturing jobs being sent overseas and doubts about policymakers’ ability to strengthen the industry moving forward.

There remains widespread uncertainty about the quality of business leadership and government leadership in the current economic climate. Forty-three percent of respondents believe today’s business leaders provide an advantage to U.S. competitiveness versus those of other countries, while 22 percent think business leaders impart a competitive disadvantage.

Only 26 percent and 29 percent, respectively, believe federal and state leadership are creating a competitive advantage for the country, while 35 percent and 30 percent, respectively, think federal and state leadership are creating a disadvantage.

“The same can be said of their views of current U.S. tax, trade and other government business policies, with less than one-third of the public seeing any competitive advantage being created for U.S. business competitiveness from current policies and over two-thirds seeing current policies having a neutral or negative impact relative to our ability to compete with other nations,” the study explains.

To that end, 65 percent said that tax incentives for manufacturing would enhance its competitiveness, and 69 percent agreed that tax cuts for individuals or businesses would help create jobs.

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Resources

Unwavering Commitment: The Public’s View of the Manufacturing Industry Today
Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, September 2011

Americans Hungry for a Strong Manufacturing Sector, but Nervous about its Future
Deloitte, Sept. 8, 2011