Although a continuing decline in the number of Michigan manufacturing jobs has eased slightly in the last few months, economists say they still expect an overall decline for the foreseeable future.
Jobs initially were lost during the post-Sept. 11, 2001, recession, and a slow recovery in addition to increased company efficiency has led to more job losses, said Jim Rhein, a labor market analyst for the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth.
"We're doing more with less, and are able to do that with productivity," Rhein said. "You couple that with a recession and a post-recession that's had a very sluggish recovery, and you get job loss."
Earlier this year, the Lansing and East Lansing area lost 9,600 jobs - the second-largest loss of non-farm employment in the country. Most of the jobs lost were in the manufacturing sector. Rhein said although jobs still are being lost, the rate of decline has decreased recently.
Efforts to retain manufacturing jobs have been a joint effort on the part of local, state and national levels, and all groups should be involved, he said.
For example, President Bush created a six-point plan aimed at recovering the country's jobs, including a permanent tax relief plan and a reduction in the cost of health care.
Robert Sherer, executive director of the newly formed Capital Area Manufacturing Council, said health care costs are one of the largest issues that manufacturers face, and the Bush administration is aware of it.
"Manufacturers have communicated that concern," Sherer said. "What the solution is, is not clear."
He added that he would expect a health care commission to be created that would make recommendations on ways to maintain costs.
In Mid-Michigan, however, efforts to create jobs are already under way.
The manufacturing council intends to organize manufacturers to discuss common issues and challenges they face, thus learning from each other on how to solve problems, Sherer said.
Nevertheless, manufacturing jobs are still on the decline, and are expected to continue over time, said Douglas Stites, CEO of Capital Area Michigan Works.
"The trend line is there will be less manufacturing jobs tomorrow, and less the day after tomorrow," Stites said, adding that there are about half as many manufacturing jobs in the area now as there was 25 years ago. "And the trend line is continuing downward, (but) maybe not quite at that steep of an angle."
He said about 80 percent of manufacturing job loss in Ingham, Clinton and Eaton counties is due to increases in productivity, which means using fewer workers to produce the same amount, if not more.
Manufacturing jobs can only last if companies are able to adapt to changes in technology, he said, adding that to make jobs grow more rapidly would be to make them more inefficient, which is unrealistic - a better solution would be to adapt.
"How can you keep what you've got and help them become smarter, quicker, faster before their competitor becomes smarter, quicker, faster?" Stites said. "If you don't do it, you'll become the dinosaur, because somebody's going to."
