MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
OK. Let's turn to the economy now, and to this head-scratcher. President Trump has been upending the global economy in the name of bringing back American manufacturing jobs. It's among the reasons he gives to justify his tariffs. But - and here's the head-scratcher part - American manufacturers say they are struggling to fill jobs that already exist. Greg Rosalsky from NPR's Planet Money has been reporting on this. Hey there, Greg.
GREG ROSALSKY, BYLINE: Hey, Mary Louise.
KELLY: So we are talking, like, half a million - 500,000 - unfilled jobs. Why aren't Americans racing to get these jobs?
ROSALSKY: First, there's pay. This is sort of the classic answer in economics when there's a shortage of something. Like, you need to raise the price. In this case, that means raising worker wages.
KELLY: Right.
ROSALSKY: Now, manufacturers have actually raised their wages in recent years, and that does appear to have dented this problem. If they raise their wages more, that would probably go a long way to dealing with this issue. However, one of the big reasons why a lot of manufacturers left the United States in the first place is because Americans demand higher pay to work these jobs. So this wage issue sort of begs the question whether some manufacturers, particularly labor-intensive ones, can be profitable and globally competitive in the United States.
KELLY: OK. So there's the issue of pay and whether these jobs are paying enough to make them interesting to the potential workforce. What are the other two things?
ROSALSKY: The next issue identified was manufacturing appears to have a PR problem. In the course of my reporting, I learned that, rightly or wrongly, many Americans have this sort of perception of manufacturing, that these jobs are often dirty, monotonous or potentially dangerous. I actually spoke with the head of The Manufacturing Institute. Her name is Carolyn Lee. And she says that these perceptions are really outdated. Manufacturing these days is much different than the manufacturing jobs depicted in Charles Dickens novels. She told me these jobs are clean and bright and full of technology. And she told me that, you know, changing this perception of manufacturing - that could go a long way to dealing with this problem.
KELLY: OK, so a PR issue. And then what's number three?
ROSALSKY: Yeah. So even if the word gets out and young Americans want to do these jobs, they will still need the skills to do them, and that seems like the biggest issue. Now, the first thing I want to say is that manufacturing workers do a lot of different things, and it's not just working on assembly lines. Only around 2 in 5 manufacturing jobs are directly involved in making stuff. Like all other businesses, you know, they have a HR department, a finance department, marketing and so on. And, you know, that's why around half of these jobs in manufacturing right now require a bachelor's degree.
That said, the other half of open manufacturing jobs do not require a bachelor's degree, and manufacturers say they are struggling to fill those. I learned over the course of my reporting that some of the hardest skills to find right now are those aimed at operating and repairing machines and equipment. Manufacturing these days is highly automated, and it's not like anyone could just come off the street and start effectively working with these machines. They need to know things like electrical systems, mechanical systems, hydraulic power, robotics. And everyone I spoke to told me that America needs to do a much better job on vocational training so more Americans have skills to do modern manufacturing.
KELLY: Well - and where does that go, the demand for workers with vocational training? I know President Trump just issued an executive order that seems to be anticipating that.
ROSALSKY: Right. Everyone I spoke to pointed out this issue that America's apprenticeship program just pales in comparison to other advanced industrial nations. According to Third Way, a centrist think tank, in 2022 only 0.3% of the American working-age population was in apprenticeship programs. For comparison, in Switzerland, that figure was 3.6%, or 12 times higher. I think what is clear is that bringing American manufacturing back will likely require more than just slapping up tariffs or investing lots of money to build new factories. Leaders may need to regear our education system. They might need to regear high schools and community colleges, and they may need to invest a lot more in apprenticeship programs to build the workforce that American manufacturers need.
KELLY: That is Greg Rosalsky of NPR's Planet Money. Thank you, Greg.
ROSALSKY: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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