Factory jobs catch bounce from PPE manufacturing

As factories start bringing back workers laid off at the beginning of the pandemic, some are retooling to meet corona virus related demands.

Designetics, a firm near Toledo, Ohio, that makes windshield coating systems, now has about half its 73 workers trained to make custom protective barriers to prevent coronavirus transmission.

The switch started when a local hospital asked for a particular size barrier for ultrasound sessions with expectant mothers. Orders flowed in from grocery stores, restaurants and beauty salons. Even a Tucson, Ariz., art gallery ordered transparent barriers to keep its artwork visible.

“It’s really the big thing right now,” said Designetics President Sydney Spraw. “It’s been a nice addition to what we’ve lost on the automotive side.”

While the company still ships its windshield coating system to more than 60 countries, that part of the business has become unpredictable, Spraw said.

“You can make something and ship it and then the country closes down and it can’t be delivered because there’s literally nobody there to accept it,” Spraw said. “Or the delivery person refused to be screened so they won’t accept it. That’s happened. We have to switch to a different service.”

Manufacturing jobs nationwide are starting to come back from their pandemic nosedive. Falling by more than 1.3 million between February and April, they hit 11.4 million, the lowest number since March 2010, after the Great Recession.

Manufacturing jobs increased in May and June by about 700,000, but remain 6% below the same point in 2019 — about the level they were five years ago as the recovery took hold, according to a Stateline analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Other factory layoffs could still be coming as a result of new shutdowns in response to the latest wave of coronavirus cases.

For instance, the Wisconsin-based small engine manufacturer Briggs & Stratton recently announced 228 layoffs plus 120 more by its supplier Adecco USA, effective in August, citing the pandemic’s effect on its lawnmower and pressure washer business.

Some states are trying to boost manufacturing job numbers by helping factories reach out to potential customers of barriers, masks and other personal protective equipment, or PPE. California helped create an online marketplace for that purpose in June, and similar markets were set up with state help in Missouri, Indiana and Ohio.

Those states are some of the most dependent on manufacturing jobs. California has the largest number of manufacturing jobs, while those in Indiana make up the largest share of total jobs, 20%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

States are easing the path in other ways, too. As manufacturers look to make protective equipment on the side, many are worried about liability, said Linda Kelly, general counsel for the National Association of Manufacturers, a trade group.

“You now have digital printing facilities making face shields, or textile makers that now make masks and gowns,” Kelly said. “If I’m making something I’ve never made before, am I going to be held to some obscure standard when I’m just trying to step up and do the right thing in an emergency?”

At least eight states have passed laws or issued an executive order to limit liability during the pandemic, and three more are considering it.