Joe Sixpack

How much of unemployment is based on manufacturing? Lots. Even so, the United States is still a manufacturing center, in a big way, as one of the top manufacturing countries. The politicos who rant and rave about manufacturing jobs are posturing. They know the score. The reality is that the jobs lost are often technically easy. What do I mean? Jobs that don't require deep education are Joe Sixpack jobs, ones that might require assembling a part or adding a number of bolts on to a frame. One becomes very proficient at the job, but it's work that can be done robotically. Once the manufacturer figures out that a $100,000 robotic arm is cheaper and may do better work (and it doesn't have sick days, doesn't care if the light in the plant is on or off or if the plant is too hot or too cold, never goes on strike, does not need a pension or health benefits), the decision is made and the human is out of work.

As manufacturers buy and use more and more robots and, therefore, fewer and fewer people, it does not look good for Joe Sixpack now or in the future. Joe is a great guy, but he is sometimes not educable. In other words, only 50% of those who try computer numeric controlled (CNC) programming at technical school can make the final cut. Technology today is tough work. Sometimes, it's beyond the scope of graduates of even the best colleges and universities. The median pay is around $42,000, plus benefits, but that does not tell the entire story: Some CNC programmers do other things — things that also require difficult technical education — that bump their salaries up to close to $70,000. These are the folks who program the robots to spot-weld, build frames, turn screws and paint automobiles. The reason BMW built a plant in South Carolina probably had more to do with the fact that robots work for the same price anywhere. You might as well build the car near one of its largest markets, rather than ship it from overseas.