Benefits of outsourcing and cost of local production are both declining
Growing up, many of us were taught the importance of obtaining higher education. After receiving the same message, high school students across the country are gearing up to attend college in the fall. While there is a strong case for higher education, the payoff from investment is declining. At Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, SC, representatives from colleges across the state told seniors they should plan to finish a master’s degree if they expect a decent-paying job. With the current economic state of this nation, college is too costly and with little guarantee after graduation. A study conducted by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce found that recent college graduates have an almost 10 percent unemployment rate. Depending on your field, the rate is up to 15 percent. In order to alleviate this issue, manufacturing should be brought back to America.
No matter what field one chooses to enter, there is constant chatter of a tough job market and how students should make themselves more competitive in order to land a job. In law school, students have to work for little to no salary as interns after graduation in the hope of moving up the ladder at a law firm. In business, an MBA guarantees almost nothing as many students have to pursue additional training. Similar stories exist for the medical professions. Additionally, I personally know two gentlemen with doctor of philosophy degrees who applied to the summer camp I worked at because nothing else was available to them. My cousin has a master’s degree in English, yet cannot find a job in her field. This demonstrates a need for new avenues of employment in America.
Prior to the early ’90s, the Big Three automobile manufacturers, which includes Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, employed hundreds of thousands of Americans. According to the Washington Post, the Ford plant in Detroit alone employed roughly 100,000 people prior to its bankruptcy. Before the outsourcing boom, American manufacturing paid workers well and provided great benefits surpassing those of even college graduates. Nowadays, our government has given no incentive for companies to remain in the U.S., so there is next to no manufacturing in America. Eliminating the manufacturing industry puts a strain on the employment numbers which the service industry can handle, thus further implicating a job shortage. When was the last time you saw a product with a tag saying “made in the USA?” It’s become so rare that many of us have to ponder the last time we noticed. This was not always so. In the years after World War II, there was greater “buy American” sentiment, and there was less greed driving jobs overseas. Contrary to the myth, American manufacturing is not expensive. My father works at Mack Trucks, and I can assure you he is not a millionaire. Every year, his job is threatened to go overseas unless he and his team agree to certain pay and benefits cuts. I chose to attend college to work in a field where I would have job stability. I have now found that this stability is never guaranteed. Financial benefits aren’t the only reason to bring manufacturing back. By opening more plants and factories, customer demands can be met at greater ease and efficiency.
If more money for the average family, or greater customer service isn’t reason enough, corporations can also relish in the fact that shifting economics now favor U.S. production. A study in 2011 concluded that, when factoring in wages, raw materials and capital costs, but excluding taxes, compliance and other structural costs, American manufacturing is 9 percent cheaper than the average cost of other competing countries.
America has become too reliant on foreign nations like China to make basic products which could easily be made at home. China is no friend to us and now owns the market in a whole host of product lines. We owe China tremendous sums of money in large part due to the huge gap in trade. In order for America to regain its edge in the market and cut unemployment, manufacturing should be brought back to the mainland.