NAM survey: Workforce shortage is top issue for manufacturers

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Washington, D.C., has released the results of the "Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey" for Q3 2019. For the second consecutive quarter, the survey shows a significant drop in manufacturers’ optimism amid uncertainties, a softening global economy, and a worsening workforce shortage. Nearly 68 percent of manufacturers had a positive outlook for their business in Q3 2019, down from 79.8 percent in Q2 and 89.5 percent in Q1. The inability to attract and retain a quality workforce remained manufacturers’ top business concern (69.9 percent) for the seventh straight quarter.

“Manufacturers across the country are telling us nothing concerns them more than the workforce crisis,” said NAM President/CEO Jay Timmons. “This quarter’s survey also provides more evidence that a slowing global economy and uncertainties have manufacturers on edge. If we get the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement [USMCA] passed, the trade war with China turned into a trade agreement, and the Export-Import Bank reauthorized, manufacturers will be able to hire even more workers and grow our operations with more certainty.”

Manufacturers have an all-time high of 522,000 open jobs, according to the most recent JOLTS data, and a report published last year by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute—the workforce and education partner of the NAM—found that 2.4 million manufacturing jobs could go unfilled by 2028.

The survey found that trade uncertainties among manufacturers rose to 63.4 percent in Q3, up from 56.0 percent in Q2, as Congress and the administration work to approve the USMCA, secure a U.S.–China trade agreement, and reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank.