DeRocco says manufacturing jobs will continue to leave U.S.
America’s job market is continually changing and the trend is moving workers away from the manufacturing sector, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Emily DeRocco said Friday.
Responding to local questions about the “outsourcing” of American jobs to other countries and the fact many manufacturing jobs are moving to Mexico and China, DeRocco said looking at the big picture, that type of change is not only present, but officials expect it.
“We’re in a continually-transforming economy,” she said of what officials termed macro-economic issues after discussions with Carrier employees and state and local officials Friday.
“Just like the nation transformed from agriculture to manufacturing, we’re now moving from manufacturing to knowledge workers, and that has an impact on millions,” she added.
That’s where education can play a key role, she said, noting it is possible for middle-aged workers to change careers.
“For those of us who are middle-age and mid-career, that’s a plus, because for those of us in the baby boomer generation, we were used to a gold watch at the end of 50 years,” she said, also noting she understands that although generations of families may have held manufacturing jobs, change is ever-present.
“There’s going to be less and less of that in the country,” she cautioned of manufacturing jobs.
Nearly 2 million jobs have been lost since President Bush took office in 2001.
You don’t have to look any further than Tennessee, where 77,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost since 2000, to see where the substantial job cuts are taking place.