Episode summary
Need More Skilled Labor for US Manufacturing Renaissance, Says Jay Timmons
Bloomberg Surveillance
· · Guests: Jay Timmons
Summary
Jay Timmons said US manufacturing is in an ongoing evolution, with the biggest bottleneck now being labor rather than demand. He argued that the sector has 433,000 open jobs today and expects that figure to rise to 2 million by 2033 because factories increasingly need programmers and other workers with technology skills, not just welders and electricians.
He said the Trump tax cuts were a major driver of investment, calling them “rocket fuel” for the industry in 2017 and crediting them with record job creation, investment, and wage growth for three years. He added that renewed tax policy is helping again, but manufacturers still want more predictability on trade and tariffs. In his view, the key question is whether tariffs ultimately encourage more investment in the United States, and he said manufacturers prefer a 0 tariff level because they do not want added costs.
Timmons also stressed that a US manufacturing renaissance will require training, legal immigration reform, and better use of federal and state workforce programs. He pointed to the closure of a 178-year-old paper mill in Chillicothe, Ohio, as a reminder that communities need support when legacy factories cannot be saved, even as new opportunities open in data centers, defense, aircraft, and traditional manufacturing.
Key takeaways
- Jay Timmons said manufacturers currently face 433,000 open jobs and expects that gap to reach 2 million by 2033.
- He argued that the industry needs programmers and other tech-skilled workers in addition to welders and electricians.
- Timmons said the 2017 Trump tax cuts delivered record job creation, investment, and wage growth for three years.
- He said manufacturers want predictable trade policy and would prefer a 0 tariff level to avoid adding costs.
- He said a legal, predictable immigration system and workforce training are essential to keep US manufacturing competitive.
Notable quotes
“we have 433,000 open jobs in the sector today. That number is going to grow to 2 million by the year 2033”
“manufacturing is always in a in a in an evolution, right? For four decades, we've evolved into different types of jobs requiring different types of skills”
“we had record job creation, record investment, record wage growth for the next three years”
“you want to you want to ask our manufacturer an optimal tariff level is 040, right? Because we don't want to add cost to the to to doing business here in the United States”
“Jobs in manufacturing pay more than on average, more than any other sector of the economy”
How the episode opens
I think they're going to help supercharge it, Tom, to be honest. Look, manufacturing is always in a in a in an evolution, right? For four decades, we've evolved into different types of jobs requiring different types of skills.
And what we're seeing now and actually, you and I talked about this before, we have 433,000 open jobs in the sector today. That number is going to grow to 2 million by the year 2033. And the reason it's going to grow is because we need people with different skills to help us navigate this new technology evolution.
Give us an example of one skill there. Well, you've got don't tell me welders. We know that.
Well, we do know welders and electricians. Yes, for sure. But programmers, for instance.
Right. People who can design the programs to to help automate certain functions within a facility, within a within a manufacturing operation. That's an example.
Chillicothe, Ohio, basically thumb equidistant between Cincinnati and Columbus. Yeah, it's just like a triangle. A triangle there.
It's a triangle. And Jay is our second. It's too much for state university.
It's too much where we're all Ohio today for some reason. Talk to us about just the state of manufacturing in this country as it relates to President Trump's effort to reshore a lot of manufacturing and providing incentives for that. We've seen a lot of non-U.S.
companies make big announcements about putting factories and so on in the U.S. Are we seeing that? Well, just like you're fortunate to have Ohio State FOX here on your show, manufacturing is really fortunate to have good policies in place right now.
Back in 2017, when President Trump announced his tax tax plan in front of our board of directors, he said it would be rocket fuel for the industry.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- us manufacturing
- industrial production
- capex and lending
- tax incentives
- skilled labor
Companies and tickers mentioned
- WFC
- Wells Fargo & Co
Watch the episode
Watch “Need More Skilled Labor for US Manufacturing Renaissance, Says Jay Timmons” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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