The H1-B Reform Act of 2004 capped the number of visas available and prompted other changes. Wharton management professor Britta Glennon used data from that policy change to examine how the restrictions affect offshoring, which is the practice of hiring foreign labor through foreign offices. More »
In its negotiations with the striking United Auto Workers union, General Motors has put a seemingly tantalizing offer on the table: It has proposed building a new plant in Ohio to produce batteries for some of the one million electric cars it hopes to sell globally by 2026. More »
Some see a field that could be repurposed for commercial use to bring a much needed economic boost to a struggling Rust Belt city. Others view it as an irreplaceable ecosystem that is part of Dayton’s identity. More »
The factory uses technology like augmented reality to give workers live operational data about machines on the floor. And the change resulted in significant improvements in efficiency: a 90% reduction of paperwork and a 20% reduction in the mean repair time. More »
The question is whether a U.S. manufacturing renaissance will do more for workers or robots. More »
As a first-time entrepreneur working from UW’s incubator more than five years ago, Liachko says, he didn’t think much about the rarity of genomics startups spun out of university research. But as a CEO of a growing company, Liachko now sees missed opportunities for UW and the Puget Sound region. Some technologies developed in UW labs have found homes elsewhere in the country, he says. Other research just sits on a shelf. Liachko says part of the problem is that Seattle’s life sciences community lacks a culture of commercialization. He wants to change that. More »
Taking advantage of new manufacturing technologies, microfactories are small, highly automated factories. In addition to requiring less space, the microfactory doesn’t need as large of a labor force and can use less energy and materials. More »
Of particular interest are the regions just below the top 10. In its February report “2019 U.S. Life Science Clusters: Markets Positioned for ‘Century of Biology’” commercial real estate firm CBRE ranked nine “emerging” life-sci clusters, with Seattle on top. Four of those regions came close to cracking GEN’s top-10: Denver (11th in VC funding and lab space), and including Austin (11th in patents), Pittsburgh (11th in NIH funding), and Houston (11th in jobs). More »
Apple says the new Mac Pro, which is supposed to launch later this fall, will be “manufactured” in the Austin facilities. Previously, Apple has used the phrase “Assembled in the USA” to note that Mac Pros are not being fully constructed there due to their use of components made overseas. Apple doesn’t clarify whether that’ll be the same this time around, but it does say that the value of American-made components in the new machines has increased by 2.5x. More »
3DP can compete with traditional manufacturing for simple metal parts with relatively low design costs and higher volumes. At scale, 3DP can cost-efficiently serve high volume market needs and fundamentally transform the supply chain. More »
The corporate headquarters building is part of a $350 million expansion of the American Airlines campus in Fort Worth that was built in the 1950s. More »
Ford Motor Co. unveiled plans Tuesday for the most sweeping redesign of its Dearborn corporate campus in at least half a century, changes that will one day create new work environments for some 20,000 of its workers and open the campus to the public. More »
Why do the National Academies expect 3.4 million unfilled skilled technical jobs by 2022? What did 139 stakeholders from across the country say the U.S. should do to improve opportunities for skilled technical workers? What 4 recommendations do we offer for building the Skilled Technical Workforce of the future? More »
Economic theory does not provide a clear answer regarding the overall impact of technological progress on jobs. And even if automation has traditionally been beneficial in the long run, policymakers should never ignore its disruptive short-term effects on workers. More »
The coworking model is here to stay. It satisfies the need for community-focused, flexible office space that executive suites missed. It is a disrupter in many ways, but especially so in contrast with the traditional executive suites which missed an opportunity to capture this niche market before WeWork and others did. More »
From the outside, little has changed about the massive industrial spaces that house much of our nation’s manufacturing and warehousing operations — but inside, those spaces are hosting fewer assembly lines and more robots. More »
The contraction of retail, and the empty spaces it has left behind, has meant opportunity for industrial redevelopment in some cases, such as a former regional mall in Ohio that is now serving Amazon. More »
The more popular it becomes to ship Asian containerized exports to the U.S. East Coast versus the West Coast – whether via the Panama or Suez Canal – the more hinterland transport demand shifts in favor of trucks hauling cargo westward at the expense of rail moving boxes eastward. More »
As U.S.-China trade continues to dominate headlines and uncertainty looms for numerous industries, many eyes stay turned to the ports and intermodal sector. Today, consumers from all over the world want to receive goods faster, no matter where the product comes from, and that expectation is not going away anytime soon. More »
Your city and every other community in America are in an all-out arms race to develop, attract, and keep talent. Talent development is the No. 1 focus for communities because it’s the No. 1 issue for businesses. Just as talent is the most important asset for any company, a prepared labor force is the most important asset for any community. More »
Having vertical distribution facilities closer to urban customers helps slash delivery times. More »
The flood of electric vehicles rolling out over the next decade will have many fewer parts and assemblies than today's gas-powered cars and trucks. And that will radically change the auto factory floor, with fewer jobs and the real possibility that the batteries and electric motors that power the new vehicles could be sourced offshore. More »
Uncertainty over tariffs, demand causes companies to delay investments, hiring plans. More »
Despite talk of a slowing economy, demand for office space has picked up recently Filling space was weak in the first quarter but rebounded in the second quarter to “post the strongest demand since 2016,” Robert Calhoun, CoStar’s managing director and senior economist, said in the latest report on the office market. More »
