Over the last five years, U.S. manufacturing has been pulled in two directions at once: buoyed by historic public and private investment yet constrained by structural shifts in technology, trade and talent. For business leaders weighing where to deploy capital, and for communities competing to attract it, the headline numbers on jobs and output no longer tell the full story.  

The more important question is which kinds of manufacturing are growing, where they are choosing to locate, and why some facilities are adding workers while others are doing more with less. From a site selection perspective, these dynamics are redefining what makes a location competitive and what it will take to sustain manufacturing employment in the decade ahead.

Between January 2020 and March 2025, the U.S. experienced a very slight increase in manufacturing employment, much of it attributed to a rebound from losses during the pandemic.

Industries tied to emerging technologies and domestic investment—including automobile manufacturing, storage battery production, and engineered wood—saw strong job gains. These gains were fueled by policy incentives, supply chain reshoring, growing demand, and the need for labor to support new production facilities, particularly for electric vehicles, battery systems, and sustainable construction materials.

Conversely, more traditional or mature manufacturing sectors—such as commercial printing, electronic computer manufacturing, and machine shops—faced employment declines. The primary drivers were structural shifts in demand, automation and productivity gains, offshoring of routine work, and workforce transitions, including retirements and fewer new entrants into skilled trades. Even as output in some of these sectors remained stable or grew, fewer workers were needed to meet production requirements.

Looking ahead, manufacturing employment may not rebound in the same way it has in prior cycles. Rapidly evolving trade policies, cost pressures, and continued automation will likely limit growth in traditional production roles. This does not signal a broad manufacturing contraction, but rather a continued redefinition of what manufacturing work looks like in today’s economy.

The next phase of growth will be driven less by high-volume labor and more by specialized, high-skill roles tied to advanced production, automation, materials science, data analytics, clean technology, and supply chain innovation.  

Regions that invest in technical education, reskilling programs, apprenticeships, and strong partnerships between industry and higher education will be best positioned to capture this new wave of manufacturing investment.

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