US factories seek workers for the nearshoring boom

A furniture retailer is seeking out more North American suppliers to reduce the region's dependence on shipping from other parts of the world.

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Lego is spending more than $1 billion to open a factory in Virginia in 2027 that will supplement its Mexico plant to feed the Americas.

The investments are happening as a slew of new semiconductor and electric-vehicle battery plants are expected to open in the next few years, boosted by U.S. government grants, across states such as Ohio, Nevada, Georgia, Idaho, Arizona and Texas.

"It's boom time," said Carolyn Lee, president of the Manufacturing Institute, a workforce development and education affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers. Lee said the industry usually advertises about 500,000 job openings each month. "When those facilities open in 2025 and 2026 that need is going to go up even higher," she said.

Labor demand across manufacturing is uneven. Some factory employers are cutting jobs as they respond to shifts in the economy and a slowdown in spending on farm equipment and big-ticket items like cars and major appliances. But the overall trend is toward a shortage of workers.

The problem is exacerbated by an exodus of Baby Boomers from factory work that began with a surge of retirements during the Covid pandemic, Lee said.