2025 was a disastrous year for manufacturing across the U.S., much of it due to the Trump administration’s policy of increasing tariffs.
April’s employment report showed further job losses in the manufacturing sector.
According to Florida TaxWatch, there will be nearly 70,000 fewer U.S. manufacturing jobs in 2025.
However, over the same period, Florida’s manufacturing industry showed some resilience, with fewer than 3,000 manufacturing jobs lost.
“Florida’s manufacturing industry is an $86.6 billion industry, ranked sixth in the nation in manufactured goods exports, employing more than 434,000 workers and contributing 4.62 percent of the state’s GDP, quietly surpassing tourism and agriculture,” TaxWatch said.
These jobs include aerospace, defense, and space manufacturing companies along the Space Coast.
We partner with major employers such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, SpaceX, and Raytheon.
TaxWatch notes that these jobs come with high wages, with an average annual salary of $87,000, and some companies only require a high school diploma or equivalent.
However, there are some issues currently facing Florida manufacturers.
More than half of the state’s manufacturing workers are over the age of 45, and in major cities like Tampa, only 10% of workers entering the industry are between the ages of 19 and 24.
Nationwide, manufacturing could leave 2.1 million unfilled jobs and more than $1 trillion in lost production by 2030. Beyond the hard numbers, 73% of senior manufacturing leaders are preparing to retire within the next 10 years, and 68% believe at least half of the knowledge within their organization will be lost forever. Process knowledge leakage cannot be solved by standardized training alone.
