Manufacturing Day: Reason to Share

What a great industry we’re in! Being in the business of “making things” is fun and rewarding. Most of us can go out in the world and see everyday products we’ve contributed to that make the world a better place. Yet still there’s a stigma about manufacturing where people think about backbreaking, dirty, manual labor. If more people knew how sophisticated manufacturing is (indeed, it’s truly a “tech” profession), and all the opportunities it offers, parents all over the country would be telling their kids “we really think you should consider a career in manufacturing.” That’s exactly what Manufacturing Day is all about, and we celebrate this annual event on Friday, October 3, 2014.

U.S. Manufacturing: Good News, and Challenges

The co-producers of Manufacturing Day have tons of interesting facts that are really worth sharing. Below are just a few of the highlights:

• In 2012, manufacturers generated $2.03 trillion. In the 20 years ending in 2012, manufacturing output increased more than 83 percent. The U.S. manufacturing sector is so huge that if it were its own country, it would rank as the eighth-largest world economy.
• After years of declining job figures, manufacturing has enjoyed a resurgence in the past several years. Since January 2010, the manufacturing industry has added almost 600,000 jobs.
• Today’s manufacturing employees earn higher wages and receive more generous benefits than other working Americans. The annual average salary of manufacturing workers is more than $77,000. Manufacturers have the highest job tenure in the private sector. 90% of manufacturing workers receive medical benefits.
• While over 70% of Americans fear the loss of domestic manufacturing jobs to other nations, only 30% of parents encourage their kids to enter manufacturing. And, only 17% of people view manufacturing as a top career choice.
• 67% of manufacturers report a moderate to severe shortage of available, qualified workers. And 56% anticipate the shortage to grow worse in the next few years.

On Manufacturing Day, manufacturers across the country will raise and address these issues by simply exhibiting what they do to visitors curious about manufacturing. They’ll be hosting open houses, public tours, career workshops and other events. We can all participate by spreading news like the facts above.

The “I ♥ MFG DAY” Social Media Challenge

To help get the word out about MFG DAY and manufacturing in America, the event co-promoters challenge supporters to change their Facebook and Twitter avatars to “I ♥ MFG DAY.” The avatar (this is the thumbnail photo where most companies show their logo on social media) is shown in the photo above, and can be found on the MFG DAY website. They also provide some helpful hints for how to install this. Then, if you include the hashtag #MfgDay14 in your posts, they’ll give you a shout-out. Okuma will be participating in the Challenge, and you’ll see this avatar on our Facebook and Twitter posts as a demonstration of our support. Please join us and let’s share the good news about manufacturing.

The facts shown above, and many more, are available on the MFG DAY and Manufacturing Institute websites.