As some U.S. companies bring their manufacturing jobs back to
American shores from overseas, they're finding it difficult to
fill newly created positions as well as some that already were
vacant. A recent report conducted by consultancy Deloitte and
the Manufacturing Institute argues the industry is missing a
vital, untapped resource to fill empty jobs: women. According to
the survey which was released earlier this year, women are
drastically underrepresented in the manufacturing industry
workforce when compared to the general U.S. working population.
While women make up nearly half of the American labor force, the
group only accounts for 24.8 percent of the manufacturing
industry's workforce. There are two issues that may explain the
lack of women workers in American manufacturing jobs, says the
report. First, the industry is stigmatized as a boys' club.
Fifty-one percent of survey respondents believe the main driver
of women's underrepresentation in manufacturing is the
perception of it as a male-favored cu