Reshoring and Manufacturing… Myth or Movement?

Introduction: Academics, policymakers, and practitioners have identifi ed the United States as on the verge of a manufacturing moment, whereby we regain our competitive position in the manufacturing sector (Cowell & Provo, 2014). Economic activity is particularly strong in certain key industries, mainly in high-wage manufacturing industries, including durable manufacturing goods, and in sectors producing goods with high shipping costs. In the US, manufacturing employment overall has increased 5.2% since a recent low of 11.5 million jobs in January 2010. Continued growth related to manufacturing will create between 2 million and 3 million jobs in the next decade with an estimated 600,000 to 1 million of them being direct manufacturing jobs (Sirkin et al 2012, p. 12). While much of this growth will come from exports related to an overall manufacturing resurgence, some of this growth will come from a less obvious source: the reshoring of manufacturing jobs in certain key industry sectors. Scholars and practitioners have similarly predicted a tipping point for key sectors like transportation goods, computers and electronics, fabricated metals, machinery, plastics and rubber, most of which will likely see increased production as a result of reshoring in the US. Firms within these industries that reshore will do so because of growing concerns with production qua l it y, work force competency, effi ciency, speed to market, and supply chain vulnerabilities abroad.