More than 40,000 Industrial Manufacturing Jobs Lost in U.S., Canada to Plant Closures in 2012, with More Likely in 2013

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Since the beginning of the Great Recession, the closing of plants has become a big business in the Industrial Manufacturing industries of the U.S. and Canada. Companies who specialize in the closing, demolition and relocation of plants and their equipment have seen solid business over the years. The Great Recession provided a platform for these companies to see a boom in business. Over the past five years, thousands of plants have been closed. Some opted to close to move to a better business climate and others closed their doors for good as the business itself had become nonviable in today's market. This trend of closing plants has resulted in thousands upon thousands of jobs being lost during that time period. During this year, 182 more plants were closed for various reasons within the Industrial Manufacturing industries in the U.S. and Canada. Looking ahead to 2013, another 22 are scheduled to close, which means that more than 40,000 jobs were lost this year, with another 14,000 on the ropes in the coming year.

Click on the image at the right for a graph detailing U.S. and Canadian Industrial Manufacturing plants that are expected to close in 2013.

The numbers for 2013 are still early and will certainly grow as the year develops. Some companies opt to keep their plans for closing or relocating very quiet for obvious reasons, while others make the announcement very early, giving employees an opportunity to seek other work. While the numbers of plants closing within the Industrial Manufacturing Industry have been gradually becoming lower and lower each year, there are still a significant number that occur each year. In some cases, there has been closures because international competition has finally made doing business in the U.S. and Canada unfeasible and unprofitable. Some companies are electing to move to states where the union influence is lessened, while others are simply determining that they still have too many plants operating and that they must consolidate.

Where these closures have been and will be occurring is telling. The Great Lakes region of the U.S. has been hardest hit during 2012, and is on a pace to remain the area that will see the most closures in 2013. In 2012, a total of 56 plants closed in the Great Lakes region, which resulted in just fewer than 15,000 jobs being lost. Given that this region was arguably the hardest hit during the recession thanks to its reliance on blue collar manufacturing facilities and the automotive sector, it is a tough pill to swallow that more plants are closing. After the Great Lakes region, there is a significant drop off in the closing numbers. The Southwest region of the U.S. saw the second-highest number of closures in 2012, with 23 that cost 5,400 workers their jobs, while the Southeast region saw another 17 plants close, resulting in 4,300 jobs lost. More than 10,000 jobs are expected to be lost in Southwest and Southeast regions in 2013 thus far.

In Canada, the closures were most prevalent in the province of Ontario, which had 11 plants close in 2012, resulting in 1,900 jobs lost, while in the coming year they have another two plants poised to close as well. Other provinces that experienced some closure activity in 2012 included Quebec, the Atlantic Canada provinces, and the Western Canada provinces. Quebec is also expected to see some significant closures in 2013, with at least another 1,500 jobs gone. These numbers also will certainly grow as 2013 develops. Canada was not hit nearly as hard as the U.S. in 2012, simply due to the fact that the U.S. has many times the number of manufacturing plants that could possibly close.

Hopefully, 2013 will prove to be a year when fewer closures occur in both the U.S. and Canada. Much will depend on how the U.S. handles the looming fiscal cliff, and how the President's economic policies are implemented--if they are at all, given the wide gap between the two major parties in Congress--in the coming months, now that the election is over. 2013 may appear to be starting slow when it comes to the closing of plants, but things likely will heat up once winter is over. If both countries are lucky, the total number of closures will continue to decline, and while a number will occur in the coming year, it will end up being fewer than 2012, which will be a solid sign of continued economic recovery.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.