Manufacturing has weathered the biggest surge in workers quitting — a nearly 60 percent jump compared with pre-pandemic. No other industry has seen an increase like that.
The reality is the sector no longer provides the good-paying jobs it once did. From 1976 to 2006, average hourly pay for a rank-and-file factory worker was substantially higher than the average across all industries for nonsupervisory workers. Now manufacturing pay is below average.