Answer

Microeconomic Standpoint of Manufacturing Jobs in South Carolina

 Abstract

The manufacturing industry in South Carolina has experienced an upward surge, especially in job creation. Global firms have established manufacturing plants in the region resulting in the creation of more job opportunities. Nonetheless, there has been sub-urban expansion of industrial manufacturing that has created further employment openings. The state’s innovation ecosystem and the presence of scientific and industrial skilled labor have been essential factors for the sector’s renaissance. The high demand for labor continues to exist in the manufacturing sector, and there is a need to invest in training to prevent the occurrence of skills gaps in the market. The existence of technology colleges has been pivotal to enhancing modern knowledge in production.

Microeconomic Standpoint of Manufacturing Jobs in South Carolina

The South Carolina manufacturing industry lost approximately one hundred and forty thousand jobs between 2000 and 2010 due to economic recession and other factors (Bergman & Feser, 2020). However, the region is slowly gaining its manufacturing glory and has prospects of ensuring more job opportunities. For instance, manufacturing giants such as Boeing, BMW, and Michelin have set plants in the region (Karayel, 2017). Boeing created over 8000 new job opportunities. BMW has created more than seven thousand job openings since starting its operations in the region. Other companies that are looking to establishing production plants in the region include tires and good makers. The analysis of South Carolina manufacturing jobs’ microeconomics dynamics provides insight into the opportunities and prospects of growth in the sector.

Most companies want to establish operations in South Carolina due to the deep roots of the manufacturing workforce in the region. The region experiences high collaboration with the local technical colleges to improve the workforce. In the past decade, the region has experienced a 24% increase in the workforce. The manufacturing industry has announced 75,000 new job opportunities in the last decade (Stettner & Yudken, 2019). The cost of labor is cheaper compared to other states. Nonetheless, South Carolina has little union activities making it easy for companies to manage the cost of labor, and still sustain profits. The presence of highly skilled professionals in engineering and manufacturing presents a unique advantage to manufacturing plants in the region. In fact, South Carolina is among top five states in America with high concentration of scientific, manufacturing, and engineering skilled workers (Carnevale, Cheah, Ridley, Strohl & Peltier Campbell, 2019). Thus, the region has a steady supply of skilled labor needed to sustain the manufacturing sector’s production.   

The manufacturing sector in south California offers diverse employment opportunities for workers with various scientific and technical skills in manufacturing. Nonetheless, the industries are distributed across the region ensuring that workers from all over the state can easily find a job in nearby production plants. The region has recently realized many small and medium sized manufacturers providing job opportunities to high and moderate skilled workers. The state’s innovation ecosystem acts as a pull factor to established manufacturing companies. Thus, it leverages its distinct innovation assets for the benefits of its manufactures, especially those that are linked to affiliated producers in other states (Karayel, 2017). The top three manufacturing sector with most job offers includes primary metallic production, nonmetallic mineral production, and petroleum and coal product manufacturers.

The implementation of automation and more dependency on technology in production will enhance growth in the sector and more job opportunities will be created. Manufacturing currently depends on technology, and strict adherence to the same will increase the sectors growth and consequent increase in jobs. Training on modern production technology should be a high priority for support colleges and existing firms in the region. The improvement in skilled labor will attract more potential employers in the region. The growing demand of skilled labor may result in a knowledge gap, which will hurt the sector’s projected growth.

South California is experiencing manufacturing renaissance. Many global companies such as BMW and Boeing among other production plants have established production plants in the region. The number of job openings has significantly increased. Besides, the sector has also experience an increase in wages. However, there needs to be increased training in modern manufacturing technology to prevent occurrence of skill gap due to high demand of workforce in the sector.