Jun 20, 2017

Trump supporters: Manufacturing jobs dangerous, low-paying

President Trump won the White House by promising to bring back manufacturing jobs that companies sent overseas to take advantage of cheap labor. But actual Trump supporters say the issue is that manufacturing jobs in the U.S. today for blue-collar workers are dangerous or low-paying.

Reuters interviewed workers in the manufacturing hub of Elkhart, Indiana, where voters supported Donald Trump by a 2-to-1 margin in November.
The unemployment rate in Elkhart sits at just 1.9%, but the manufacturing jobs there that pay well are so physically demanding that many workers cannot stay for long before medical issues force them to accept lower-paying jobs elsewhere.
Why it matters: Offshoring and immigration aren't to blame for the lack of high-paying but low-skilled jobs in manufacturing as much as automation technology, which has left for humans tasks that are either low-value, high-skilled, or dangerous.

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