Sporting Goods Production Workers

As sports and fitness become more popular among health-conscious Americans, the market for sporting goods is expected to continue to grow. Exports of American-made goods may also increase in coming years. This does not mean, however, that the number of jobs in sporting goods manufacturing will also increase.

The manufacture of many kinds of sports gear is very labor-intensive, and to keep labor costs down, manufacturers have moved some of their operations to plants in other countries, where workers can be paid lower wages. The coronavirus pandemic has also impacted the sporting goods manufacturing industry, which has been consolidating businesses to further conserve operation costs. Employment of sporting goods production workers is expected to have little growth until later in 2021, when the pandemic comes to an end and the economy strengthens. In addition, advances in automation, robotics, and computer-aided manufacturing are allowing companies to phase out certain production jobs. In the future, the need will be for employees who can program machines, supervise production, and manage resources. Workers will also be needed to test product safety and quality. In general, employment of cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, is forecast to decline by 2 percent, and by 11 percent for team assemblers, through 2028. These reductions will certainly include jobs in the sporting goods industry.

The sporting goods manufacturing industry is generally a solid but not expanding business. Job turnover is fairly high among production and assembly workers, so most new workers will be hired to replace people who leave their jobs.