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 pandemic triggered further business consolidation in the sporting goods manufacturing industry in 2020 and 2021 to conserve operation costs. Post pandemic, there has been little growth in the sporting goods industry and this trend is expected to continue in the coming years. According to a report by the research group IBISWorld, purchasing costs and operational expenses are rising due to "tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, coupled with reciprocal measures from Canada and the EU." 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 1 percent, whereas team assemblers will have slower than average job growth of 1 to 1 percent through 2033. These forecasts 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.