The Big Move: Onshoring

Big and small businesses alike may plan to move most of their manufacturing to the USA as part of the Onshoring movement. Huge companies, like Apple Inc., are leading the way right back to American soil where they plan to invest in US manufacturing and small businesses may do well to follow suit.

According to Al Presher, last quarter, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that his company was planning to invest about $100 million in US manufacturing. They pan to move away from manufacturing heavily in Asian countries in the coming years and they might be smart to do so. Part of the apple of manufacturing in Asian countries like China has been the low employee costs; but in recent years, China has gained wealth and is now considered a middle class country in which it’s workers are demanding better wages along with more worker’s benefits. Many companies are finding onshoring the cheaper option, not only because of rising wages for Asian-based manufacturing but also the increasing fuel costs. According to Presher’s article on Desingnews.com, “Onshoring: A trend in Automation” some companies are even finding that American workers are more productive and American manufactured goods are of a higher quality.

However, this trend is finding a lack in skilled labors and is creating a demand for employees that can do the job. According to Joyce Rosenberg of The Associated Press, some companies are looking to hire today, but cannot find the skilled workers they need. Not all positions require a large amount of skill in manufacturing, but the supervisors and higher tiered staff members need to have a working knowledge of the process. This means that some companies end up paying higher wages to those few skilled workers they can find, therefore off-setting the value of producing in the US.

Only time will tell if America’s younger generation will produce enough specialized worker to meet the demand that Onshoring brings. If finding and hiring skilled workers in the US becomes easy and cost effective, than the 2013 trend may influence how small and big business operate. And who knows, maybe we are only a few years away from seeing made in the USA label on everything once more.

Rosenberg, Joyce. “5 Issues Facing Small Businesses in 2013”.nbcnews.com/. 28 Dec. 2012.

Presher, Al. “Onshoring: A Trend in Automation” http://www.designnews.com 11 Feb. 2013.