MISUMI Americas releases reshoring report, supports manufacturing training bill
MISUMI Americas has examined reshoring of U.S. manufacturing and supported legislation to send workers overseas for training. The post MISUMI Americas releases reshoring report, supports manufacturing training bill appeared first on The Robot Report.
Overview
U.S. manufacturing reached a record $2.91 trillion in value. Source: MISUMI Americas
Labor shortages and a desire for national self-reliance are driving reshoring of production to the U.S. But how much reshoring is actually happening? MISUMI Americas today released its report on The Rise of U.S. Manufacturing, which has compiled mostly positive statistics.
Demographics is driving investment automation, as manufacturers struggle to mitigate the growing workforce challenge. The industry will need 3.8 million more workers by 2033, and 1.9 million of those positions could go unfilled, according to The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte.
Of that 3.8 million, about 2.8 million comes from workers retiring and the remainder from new growth, including jobs tied directly to the CHIPS Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. More than 65% of manufacturers have cited attracting and retaining talent as their single biggest business challenge.
Investment in U.S. manufacturing grows
At the same time, U.S. manufacturing value added hit a record $2.91 trillion in 2024, reported MISUMI Americas. The Institute for Supply Chain Management’s purchasing managers’ index (ISM PMI) reached 54 in May 2026, its strongest reading since 2022.
Factory construction spending peaked at $235.6 billion in 2024, nearly triple the roughly $81.9 billion spent in 2021, found the U.S. Census Bureau. Semiconductor fabs and electric vehicle (EV) battery plants, fueled by the CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act, drove the majority of that increase. That pace has since moderated to about $196 billion by January 2026.
In addition, foreign companies have committed $2.42 trillion to U.S. manufacturing, said the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the World Bank. Manufacturing is now the single largest sector for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country, representing more than 42% of all FDI in the U.S.
Misumi noted that Japan accounted for over $819 billion of that total, more than any other country investing in a U.S. industry.
If U.S. manufacturing was its own economy, the sector would be the eighth largest in the world. Source: MISUMI Americas
Vocational enrollments rise as labor demand becomes acute
Since 2010, reshoring and FDI have produced more than 2 million jobs since 2010, said the Reshoring Initiative. In 2024, 88% of those jobs were in sectors such as semiconductors, electronics, and EVs. Approximately 1.7 million of those announced jobs have already been filled.
Details
Since Spring 2020, enrollment at vocational community colleges has grown by 20%, estimated the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Undergraduate certificate programs have grown for four consecutive years, but total enrollment remains under 1 million students nationwide, a fraction of the number of people that manufacturers will need by 2033, Misumi acknowledged.
“The investment case for American manufacturing has never been stronger — record output, a historic construction cycle, trillions in committed foreign capital,” stated Dave Evans, president and CEO of MISUMI Americas and CEO of Fictiv. “What we see with our customers every day is that the next constraint isn’t capital. It’s having enough people with the right advanced skills to run these new facilities at full capacity. The good news is that American students are already moving toward skilled trades and technical training.”
Manufacturing will need millions of workers by 2033, with nearly half of those jobs at risk of going unfilled. Source: MISUMI Americas
MISUMI Americas endorses training bill
In addition to its release, MISUMI Americas has endorsed H.R. 9097, the American Manufacturing Revitalization Exchange Program Act, introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and now pending before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The bill would provide a stipend to send American workers to allied nations for six to 12 months of hands-on training in advanced production skills for industry-recognized credentials.
“H.R. 9097 builds directly on that momentum by sending workers to learn from the countries — Japan, Germany, South Korea — that have spent decades perfecting advanced manufacturing training, and bringing that expertise home,” said Evans.
Supporters of the proposed legislation include the National Association of Manufacturers, the Manufacturing Institute, United Steelworkers, IEEE-USA, BMW Group, the American Automotive Policy Council, LIFT, the Alliance for International Exchange, Automation Alley, and the Additive Manufacturing Coalition.
MISUMI Americas discusses its report
Andy Sherman, senior vice president for operations and supply chain at MISUMI Americas, answered the following questions from The Robot Report about the company‘s findings and H.R. 9097:
How much of the recent reshoring was expansion of existing operations versus new construction?
Andy Sherman, MISUMI Americas
Sherman: The Reshoring Initiative data we cite includes announced U.S. manufacturing jobs from two streams — reshoring by American-headquartered companies and foreign direct investment. In 2024, that split ran about 66% reshoring to 34% FDI, the widest margin favoring domestic reshoring on record.
What that source doesn’t cleanly separate is construction versus expansion of existing plants; a single announcement often blends both. Where you can see that breakdown is in BEA’s foreign-investment data, and it’s revealing: Of the $232.2 billion in new FDI in 2025, the overwhelming majority was acquisitions of existing businesses, with only $4.6 billion for brand-new establishments and $9.2 billion for expansions.
So the honest picture is that a large share of the capital flows through existing operations rather than pure new construction — which is exactly why the workforce question is so critical right now. And why MISUMI Americas is investing so heavily in our educational partnerships starting in middle school through to graduate studies.
U.S. manufacturing PMI in May reached its strongest level in four years, signaling renewed growth in orders, production, and backlogs. Source: MISUMI Americas
Are there demographic factors beyond student numbers — like generational preferences — driving the shortage?
Sherman: The generation actually reshaping the floor today is Gen Z, with Millennials in the supervisory ranks. The pattern we watch most closely is retention. Gen Z workers change jobs roughly every 2.3 years, far faster than prior generations, and manufacturing turnover has topped 40% annually in some settings, with high turnover now among the top reasons companies miss production targets.
What that generation is asking for is well documented: purpose, financial security, well-being, and clear opportunities to learn and grow — not just a paycheck.
The encouraging counter-trend is that a meaningful share of young people are now choosing trade and vocational training over a traditional four-year path. Our job as an industry is to convert that openness into long careers, and that’s a systems design problem — how the work feels, what it pays, whether there’s a visible ladder — not just a recruiting problem.
If foreign investment declined from 2022 to 2023, what are the latest trends?
Sherman: In 2025, new FDI jumped 49.5% to $232.2 billion, with manufacturing leading all sectors at $121.8 billion — 52.5% of the total. Notably, Japan was the single largest source country at $50.5 billion.
Manufacturing’s share of inbound investment strengthened even as the headline number moved around, which fits what we see in our own business.
It’s worth separating flow from stock, too. The cumulative FDI position in the U.S. reached $5.71 trillion at the end of 2024, with manufacturing affiliates posting the largest increase — that long-term accumulation is the $2.4 trillion figure people often quote.
More than 2 million U.S. jobs have been announced since 2010—most in advanced manufacturing. Source: MISUMI Americas.
If community college enrollment is up, is investment in those institutions rising too?
Sherman: Enrollment is clearly recovering — community-college head count rose about 3.9% from fall 2023 to fall 2024, to roughly 10.5 million, and spring 2025 postsecondary enrollment grew 3.2% year over year with community colleges leading and freshman enrollment up more than 6%. Funding is following, but unevenly and often with a lag.
Some states are making real commitments tied directly to workforce sectors — North Carolina’s FY2026-27 budget fully funds enrollment growth at about $99 million and puts $57.5 million into a model that steers dollars toward high-demand fields like advanced manufacturing.
At the same time, systems are hitting a capacity ceiling and backfilling lost federal grants for programs like apprenticeship support. So while direction is positive, public investment isn’t keeping pace with demand everywhere — which is precisely the gap private partnership and smart policy have to close together.
High-vocational community college enrollment is up 20% since 2020, building the skilled workforce needed to power America’s manufacturing resurgence. Source: MISUMI Americas
Training bill is a proof of concept
How much will the H.R. 9097 exchange program cost?
Sherman: There’s no official price tag yet. The bill was only introduced on June 2, 2026, and referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, so it hasn’t been scored by the Congressional Budget Office, and the text doesn’t set a specific appropriation.
What it does authorize is a per-participant stipend covering things like housing, food and local transportation, training materials, visa fees, travel, and health care for the participant and dependents. Because participation is capped at no more than 10 people a year and the whole program sunsets two years after enactment unless Congress renews it, the direct federal cost is very modest by design — this is a proof of concept, not a mass program.
MISUMI Americas’ expansion of investments in the next generation of engineers and manufacturing workers is another example of knowledge transfer that works. We sponsor over 70 U.S. middle school teams in First Robotics competitions and teach undergraduate and graduate engineering courses on everything from product design and tooling to CNC, injection molding, and beyond. We also partner with research programs at schools like MIT.
Our belief is that to grow manufacturing in the U.S., we need to empower the engineers of tomorrow with the tools of today. We believe that it’s our responsibility to ensure that future engineers have access to industrial grade tools and technology and that by doing so, we’re laying the groundwork for the skilled workers we need in the U.S.
How many students are eligible, and if there’s still a shortfall, is there interest in attracting foreign talent?
Sherman: The bill caps participation at 10 a year. Eligibility is fairly open — a U.S. citizen with manufacturing or apprenticeship experience or enrolled in a relevant trade, vocational, or college program who has or can build language proficiency for the host country.
On foreign talent: This program isn’t an immigration or work-visa pathway, and I’d be careful not to frame it that way. It’s knowledge transfer in both directions — sending American technicians, machinists, engineers, and production specialists abroad to train, and bringing that expertise home.
Our own posture is the same. As a company with deep Japanese and American roots, we move know-how across borders every day, but the goal is a homegrown skilled workforce, not importing one. The point of an exchange is that people come back.
Save the date for RoboBusiness 2026What can be done to make manufacturing technology careers more attractive?
Sherman: Three things, in order. First, fix the image gap — most people still picture the factory of 40 years ago, dark, dirty, and dangerous work. In reality, 88% of the jobs reshored in 2024 were in high- or medium-high-tech sectors like robotics, semiconductors, and electronics. These are technology careers.
Second, make the pathway visible and paid — apprenticeships, employer-backed credentials, and partnerships that let someone earn while they learn rather than taking on debt for an uncertain payoff.
Third, deliver on what younger workers actually say they want: growth, purpose, and a real ladder. At MISUMI Americas, we try to start that early — sponsoring middle-school robotics teams, teaching university courses, and putting industrial-grade tools in students’ hands — because the surest way to make these careers attractive is to let people experience the work before they have to choose it.
Does MISUMI have an exchange program already, and how will it support this law if it passes?
Sherman: We don’t run a formal government-style exchange, but knowledge transfer across the U.S. and Japan is built into how we operate, and we invest heavily upstream — we publicly support the American Manufacturing Revitalization Exchange Program Act as a forward-thinking investment in people.
We’re also doing the convening work through MISUMI Americas’ U.S. Manufacturing Revitalization Summit, because policy sets the framework, but the pipeline gets built when manufacturers, educators, and policymakers are in the same room.
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