Unity Begins with “Made in the USA”

The entire world is in an upheaval, and to manage it we need to invest in America. So, I’m delighted to see that “Made in the USA” is making a comeback despite, and in some cases maybe because of, Covid-19, along with the current civil unrest and political climate.

For many years, companies have moved to offshore services looking to reduce costs and streamline their processes, only to find that there are drawbacks. One of the major disadvantages is time differences, which can be up to 12 hours, causing delays and communication issues. Additionally, geopolitical unrest and economic downturns disrupt global business relationships. But most of all, when you offshore it can mean fewer jobs for qualified Americans—and it sends our money overseas.

When we think of “offshoring,” we usually think manufacturing in a foreign country. The reality is that offshoring is common in many industries, from IT and tech to entertainment, finance, and healthcare. You may find that onshoring, and outsourcing to fellow American companies, reduces costs and improves efficiency and service. Plus, it helps support American workers.

The current business climate is dramatically changing the offshore picture. Here are just three examples of what we’re seeing:

• As our economy struggles with 30+million people out of work, consumers may well choose not to buy from companies that don’t support American jobs.
• We may soon see government incentive plans to bring back more manufacturing segments, especially those critical for national resilience and sustainability. (Mid-2020 economic update in Industry Week, by Artem Kroupenev, Vice President of Strategy at Augury)
• All aspects of healthcare may look radically different in the near future as governmental and inter-governmental agencies build new frameworks for disease response and data sharing. (ISG Research’s, “Global Healthcare 2020+ Trends”)

American companies can recruit top talent more efficiently and improve our overall economy by partnering with American staffing firms. And diverse companies may find their processes and functions can be easily re-shored and deployed in the U.S. creating new jobs and opportunities at home when we need them more than ever.

There will be continued uncertainty resulting from Covid-19 and everything else that is happening. But, among other things, these unique times have taught us how important domestic jobs are to our security and economic stability. We will eventually grow again and rebuild this great country. Organizations of every size and stripe must understand as best they can which parts of our business environment are likely to change and invest accordingly--in the U.S.A.

History shows that our strategic resilience and the large segment of Americans who prefer to buy what’s made in the U.S.A. mean that we’ll regain our momentum. The resulting increase in jobs and expanded pride in “American Made” will help build a cleaner, safer U.S.A. and unify our country in ways we haven’t seen before. There’s a lot of negativity in the news. I believe in possibility and working to ensure a positive future for our country. Working together we’ll recover and thrive.