Americans want more U.S. factory jobs—as long as they don’t have to work them
'Such jobs can’t find enough interested Americans to fill them.'
President Donald Trump is pushing full-steam ahead on tariff measures he says will fix trade imbalances with other countries, and at the same time bring manufacturing jobs back to U.S. shores. The second of these goals enjoys broad support among his fellow Americans, who overwhelmingly say the U.S. would be better off with more manufacturing jobs. But only if they're not the one stuck in the factory.
A chart that went viral on multiple social media platforms over the weekend highlights this major tension when it comes to reshoring factory jobs: While Americans say they want more manufacturing back in the U.S., they do not personally believe they'd be better off working one of them.
“America would be better off if more people worked in manufacturing.”
• 80% of Americans agree
• 20% disagree
“I would be better off if I worked in a factory.”
• 25% of Americans agree
• 73% disagree
• 2% currently work in a factory