It’s true and you wouldn’t believe that a number of Great Lakes area cities make the list, including a number in Michigan.
The last few decades have been especially hard on industrial and manufacturing sectors all across the United States of America and nowhere harder than here in the Midwest. Millions of jobs have been lost to labor that costs companies less overseas, to say nothing about the loss of human jobs to automation.
The combination has not been entirely a bad thing for those sectors or the people working them, however. Today, more than ever, the jobs that are available require higher skill sets and a highly educated workforce. This often means that the jobs that ARE available pay higher. This is to say nothing about the number entry level jobs hoping to capture the prospects of young people trying to enter the workforce.
According an article in USA Today:
“Though the manufacturing sector has added over a million jobs since the employment trough immediately following the Great Recession, the industry’s growth is not keeping pace with overall national employment growth.
Encouragingly, several U.S. cities are bucking this trend. In certain pockets of the country, manufacturing jobs are surging, often more than tripling the sector’s employment growth nationwide.”
According to their reporting the following cities in our region are seeing this trend:
Jackson, Michigan
• 5-yr. change in manufacturing employment: +15.1 percent (+1,300)
• 2017 manufacturing employment: 9,900 (17.0 percent of total)
• 2012 manufacturing employment: 8,600 (15.9 percent of total)
• Value of manufacturing exports: $984.8 million
• August unemployment: 3.5 percent
Kalamazoo-Portage, Michigan
• 5-yr. change in manufacturing employment: +15.4 percent (+2,900)
• 2017 manufacturing employment: 21,700 (14.7 percent of total)
• 2012 manufacturing employment: 18,800 (13.8 percent of total)
• Value of manufacturing exports: $1.7 billion
• August unemployment: 3.3 percent
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan
• 5-yr. change in manufacturing employment: +19.6 percent (+41,500)
• 2017 manufacturing employment: 253,100 (12.6 percent of total)
• 2012 manufacturing employment: 211,600 (11.5 percent of total)
• Value of manufacturing exports: $28.8 billion
• August unemployment: 4.2 percent
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Michigan
• 5-yr. change in manufacturing employment: +21.8 percent (+20,600)
• 2017 manufacturing employment: 115,200 (20.8 percent of total)
• 2012 manufacturing employment: 94,600 (19.5 percent of total)
• Value of manufacturing exports: $7.4 billion
• August unemployment: 2.7 percent
Kokomo, Indiana
• 5-yr. change in manufacturing employment: +30.5 percent (+2,900)
• 2017 manufacturing employment: 12,400 (29.7 percent of total)
• 2012 manufacturing employment: 9,500 (24.8 percent of total)
• Value of manufacturing exports: $1.8 billion
• August unemployment: 3.4 percent
Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana
• 5-yr. change in manufacturing employment: +33.7 percent (+17,100)
• 2017 manufacturing employment: 67,900 (49.3 percent of total)
• 2012 manufacturing employment: 50,800 (44.6 percent of total)
• Value of manufacturing exports: $4.5 billion
• August unemployment: 2.7 percent
Sentech Services has been in touch and working with manufacturing industry leaders in the Detroit and Fort Wayne areas for nearly thirty years. Our special relationship with these employers means that they trust us with their priority and hard to fill jobs. While the internet makes it easier than ever to find qualified candidates for jobs — just like it makes it easier for you to find work — the best way to stay informed about your opportunities is to sign up for our talent network.