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Building factories takes know-how, and the US doesn't have enough of it. [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-04-23

Given the intense discussion that revolves around Trump's plans to re-shore manufacturing to the US, it occurred to me that those plans will require quite a few industrial and manufacturing engineers to shepherd new factories through installation, automation, testing, commissioning and ongoing process improvement. If so, then maybe we should look at how many of those key disciplines are being produced each year.

The following answers are from ChatGPT to the question: "how many industrial and manufacturing engineers does [insert country here] graduate every year? Include years back to 2020?"

United States

Based on available data, here are the estimated numbers of industrial and manufacturing engineering degrees awarded in the United States from 2020 to 2022:​

Industrial Engineering Degrees Awarded

Year Degrees Awarded

2020 ~9,000

2021 ~8,500

2022 8,087

In 2022, there were 8,087 industrial engineering degrees awarded in the U.S., reflecting a 10.9% decrease from the previous year. ​

Manufacturing Engineering Degrees Awarded

Year Degrees Awarded

2020 ~1,000

2021 ~950

2022 941

In the 2021–2022 academic year, 941 manufacturing engineering degrees were awarded, indicating a slight decline in popularity. ​

Overall, industrial engineering remains a more prevalent field of study compared to manufacturing engineering in the U.S., with the former producing significantly more graduates annually.

The demand for industrial engineers remains strong. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 12% growth in employment for industrial engineers from 2023 to 2033, which is significantly faster than the average for all occupations. This growth translates to about 25,200 job openings annually, driven by both new positions and the need to replace retiring workers.

China

China does not publicly release detailed statistics on the number of industrial and manufacturing engineering graduates each year. However, available data provides insight into the broader engineering education landscape:​

In 2023, China had over 6.7 million undergraduate students majoring in engineering, encompassing all disciplines within the field.

That same year, approximately 10.47 million students graduated from undergraduate programs at public colleges and universities in China. ​

While specific figures for industrial and manufacturing engineering graduates are not disclosed, these disciplines are integral components of China's expansive engineering education system. Given the substantial number of engineering students and graduates, it's reasonable to infer that a significant portion specialize in industrial and manufacturing engineering.​

Additionally, the manufacturing sector has become an increasingly attractive career path for Chinese graduates. For instance, in 2023, applications for mechanical or manufacturing jobs surged by 104% compared to 2021. This trend underscores the growing interest and potential increase in graduates pursuing careers in industrial and manufacturing engineering.

My thoughts:

If President Trump is entering us in a race to recapture manufacturing from China, we're screwed.

I taught operations management, manufacturing and supply chain in an SEC business school for several decades. Retired Emeritus. I didn’t teach industrial engineering, but I hung out a lot with those folks and my professional roots go back to that stuff. The stats reported by ChatGPT track closely with what I witnessed over the years. America still does specialized manufacturing (e.g., auto, aerospace and military), but the big numbers of Americans with the key skills has withered.

It will take a monumental effort and years (possibly decades) to rebuild our talent pool. The only way the US can possibly do it quickly is to attract an instant and massive brain drain of foreign talent (hell even from China) to the US. Oh wait, I guess that means ICE can't persecute our visa and green card holders because that would scare our prospects off.

Oh well.

The Irony:

Meanwhile, the US has been leading in developing services and key ingredients for the emerging knowledge economy … which offer far more attractive competitive opportunities and much richer pickings than a race to the bottom in manufacturing.

Trump and DOGE are actively dismantling those initiatives everywhere they can find them.

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