Welcome 2015: NJ Manufacturing At A Glance
Manufacturing has been on an upswing all across the country in the last year, and this is no different in New Jersey. In the last two years, manufacturing has released a total output of over $38 billion, and it makes up 7.5 percent of New Jersey’s Total Gross State Product. Additionally, approximately 90 percent of NJ’s exports came courtesy of manufacturing businesses. All over, this has been a good year for manufacturing in NJ, in almost every field.
Additionally, manufacturing jobs have been booming right along with its increase in output and exports. Of NJ’s exporters, about 92 percent are actually small businesses, which represents a huge majority of local manufacturers that holding up NJ’s exporting revenue almost single-handedly. That is quite the accomplishment for NJ, especially as more and more customers look favorably upon businesses made for and by the United States.
Even better, these same local businesses are paying it forward where it counts: their employees. The average compensation for an employee in manufacturing is almost $42,000 higher than that of any non-farm employers in the state. Manufacturing is increasingly becoming a more and more technical field to study, and employers recognize this change and have begun raising their employees’ salaries accordingly.
That said, there is still somewhat of a skills gap in manufacturing, and NJ is no exception. In order to combat this, a variety of colleges and high schools have begun offering more and more programs to entice students into manufacturing. For example, NJMEP offers the Experience Manufacturing program, which acts as a mediator between manufacturing businesses and new graduates. Through Experience Manufacturing, businesses can submit any open positions they are looking to fill, and graduates or any other job seekers can see the positions available and submit their applications and resumes. This is all done without cost for either party, so there is very little risk associated with submitting a job opening or a resume.
While there is always room for improvement in any field, manufacturing has truly begun making some serious steps towards growth in the last year. Improvements in manufacturing continue to occur every day, so there’s no doubt there will be some wonderful things in store for manufacturers in 2015!
To learn more about Experience Manufacturing or what NJMEP can do to help your manufacturing business grow, click below!