Exploding
the myths of manufacturing
MIT
conference explores the complex state of an industry showing signs of revival.
May 10,
2012
As the
United States seeks to reinvigorate its job market and move past economic
recession, MIT News examines manufacturing’s role in the country’s economic
future through this series on work at the Institute around manufacturing.
The
manufacturing sector, its advocates note, is burdened by negative stereotypes.
Outsiders often mistakenly think that manufacturing consists of jobs that are
“dumb, dirty and dull,” as MIT President Susan Hockfield said at a conference
on the subject this week.
Many people
also view manufacturing as being in a state of continual decline, a perspective
Hockfield has encountered frequently. During discussions about manufacturing
around the country over the last 12 to 18 months, “the majority of people I met
would assure me without any apparent concern that nothing is made in America,”
Hockfield said. “And they would further assert that we should be resigned to
the sector’s demise, that it somehow wouldn’t matter.”
The facts
present a different story, however. The United States added about 50,000
manufacturing jobs this January alone, the largest monthly gain since 1998.
Companies such as Ford Motor Co. have moved overseas plants back to the United
States. And high energy costs (which make global shipping more expensive),
along with rising foreign wages in some industries, have provided reasons for
companies to consider relocating their factories in America.
read more:
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/manufacturing-lgo-conference-0510.html