Without question, America can absolutely be a global leader in high-tech manufacturing – and both save and create jobs – but we have to keep looking forward, not backward.

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The truth of the matter is that the outlook for old-school manufacturing hasn’t been great for a while now. In the 1940s, over a third of Americans worked in a factory. In 1970, manufacturing was 31 percent of private sector employment, but by 1990 that number was 17.2 percent. By 2010, manufacturing jobs accounted for only 10.7 percent of the private workforce, and today that number is below 10 percent.

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However, that doesn’t mean our glory days in manufacturing are behind us. We can absolutely be a global leader in high-tech manufacturing. We’re off to a great start because we are still a global leader in manufacturing things like airplanes and medical instruments. The United States was the world’s fourth‐​largest steel producer in 2024; the second-largest car producer in 2022; and the largest aerospace exporter in 2024.

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It’s true that our manufacturing must become more and more efficient to stay competitive – which likely means fewer jobs in the long run – but there are still plenty of jobs to be had.​ A report from Deloitte, a professional services organization, and the Manufacturing Institute estimates there could be as many as 3.8 million jobs in the U.S. manufacturing industry between 2024 and 2033. But the report warns that over 1.9 million of these jobs could go unfilled if the employee skills gap is not addressed. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said attracting and retaining talent is their number one business challenge.

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There has been, for example, a 75 percent increase in demand for simulation and simulation software skills in the last five years. Jobs like statisticians, data scientists, engineers, computer and information systems managers, software developers, logisticians, and industrial maintenance technicians are increasingly needed, as are semiconductor processing technicians, machinists, first-line supervisors, welders, and electronics and electromechanical assemblers.

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On the bright side, this is excellent timing because this shortage of skilled workers happens to coincide with our desperate need for substantial education reform. We can fill this skill void by implementing new courses of study in high school that give our kids the vocational and technological tools necessary to succeed in high-tech workplaces. Basically, we must do whatever it takes to ensure a flexible, dynamic labor market and a well-trained, adaptable workforce. (read more here)

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Beyond jobs, there are other practical, real-life reasons a renewed commitment to domestic manufacturing is critical. The pandemic proved that we are far too dependent on China and other countries for our essential and nonessential goods, and that we must stop solely relying on “just in time” supply chains by bringing vital ones back from overseas. Before the pandemic, the U.S. generally considered only things like weapons “vital,” but we need to expand that definition to include other things like pharmaceuticals and medical supplies and equipment. Currently, around 80 percent of the ingredients in our pharmaceuticals come from overseas. Yikes!

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To that end, in August 2022 Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act, authorizing around $280 billion in funding over ten years to increase domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors in the United States. The thinking behind this was smart because the U.S. manufactures only 12 percent of the world’s semiconductors, which – for what should be the world’s most competitive country – makes zero sense. This is also a top national security issue because most of the existing semiconductor plants are near China. Just one Taiwanese company, for example, manufactures 70 percent of all microcontrollers, a chip used in most every vehicle in the world. That’s not good.

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Within two years of the CHIPS Act passing, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the United States was on track to manufacture almost 30 percent of the world’s leading-edge chips by 2032.

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In its 2025 report, the Semiconductor Industry Association said the legislation had ignited over 100 projects in 28 states, totaling over half-a-trillion dollars in private investment. These projects are expected to create and support more than 500,000 U.S. jobs and help triple U.S. chipmaking capacity by 2032. Projects include the construction of new manufacturing facilities for advanced logic, memory, analog, and legacy chips; expansions of existing sites; and facilities that supply the key materials and equipment used in chip manufacturing.

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The rollout of the CHIPS Act hasn’t been without issues, naturally. As usual, Congress and the White House made the entire thing super cumbersome, complicated and jam packed, which did nothing but increase costs and inefficiency and create confusion and uncertainty. To get the monster passed, President Biden had to make promises to many different stakeholders – everything from employee childcare to labor standards to environmental impact reviews to restrictions on stock buybacks – some of which he ultimately had to roll back.

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For his part, President Trump has called on Congress to repeal the CHIPS Act, most likely because he didn’t think of it, but there seems to be very little political will to do so – including from Republicans. Because we need to make progress ASAP, messing with the CHIPS Act on any level would be a huge mistake.