A hurdle we have to clear to get a manufacturer to return is the workforce will need to be educated, have motivation to work and be able to pass a whiz quiz.
My son works in one of these (increasingly) automated manufacturing facilities in flyover country. He does prototyping, CNC machining and fabrication of tools and jigs for the line. 5 in 10 people who apply for a job fail the piss test. Only 1 in 10 can pass the skills test.
“Only 1 in 10 can pass the skills test.
The trade school sections of high schools and trade schools themselves almost vanished during the dot com bubble. People wanted their children to become instant millionaires by having the new game or dot.com idea. Nobody wanted their kid to be a plumber.
Trade school education is making a comeback at our local junior college. You can become a certified mechanic or air conditioning tech. But there are millions of children, now adults, who never saw a lathe or saw. Some of them rent from me and I asked a grown man to hand me a pipe wrench while I was under their sink. He didn’t know what one was.