I do not think that the loss of traditional manufacturing was inevitable, but a temporary reduction in manufacturing jobs is a reasonable option to demonstrate all fixable flaws in the U.S. economy. Modern jobs are more challenging and require more skills, therefore, they require more qualified employees. As can be seen, increased productivity is linked with a decreased amount of manufacturing jobs.
To recover from this state, the United States must observe and learn about the problems in the current system. The loss is connected with a multitude of factors, some of them, like international non-competitiveness of average wages of manufacturing jobs, are fixable. Factories nowadays are indeed more mechanized and automated, but it should eventually lead to market expansion, which, in turn, will produce more jobs.
The United States can still hold on to its current manufacturing base, despite the current trends. American manufactured goods are not produced at a sufficient rate to compete with other countries. The issue here is the lack of proper policies to keep manufacturing companies from going off-shore. Moreover, there are incentives that push producers to build factories overseas in low-income countries, especially in China. To alleviate this problem, the government needs to rework federal manufacturing policies in favor of American companies.
Herzberg’s two-factor theory is one of the best and simplest to use due to its extensive coverage of organizational aspects required to maintain high productivity. It affects every structural part of the organization and allows it to precisely identify an issue or a potential opportunity for growth and development. The theory is heavily supported by empirical data and has already proven itself as indeed very effective in business practices.