Universal Trailers workers assemble a unit at the Bristol faciity. The 200,000-square-foot factory has state-of-the-art automated manufacturing machines. Staff photo by Sam Householder
ELKHART – A recent report published by Ball State University finds that Elkhart County, as well as the entire nation as a whole, is extremely vulnerable to the ongoing trends of offshoring and automation, a trend policymakers are unprepared to mitigate, according to the report.
Overall, the study finds that approximately 1 in 4 American jobs are at risk of foreign competition and 1 in 2 are at risk of automation, a troubling finding that the study predicts will cause turbulence across the labor market.
Using data from several different studies, the study draws two maps of the United States—one analyzing the percentage of jobs at risk for becoming automated, the other at risk of offshoring to competing foreign nations.
Elkhart County’s percentages are both above the national average for risk of automation and offshoring. The average county’s automation risk is 57.31 percent and its risk of offshoring is 27.74 percent, according to the study; Elkhart County’s automation risk is 62.01 percent and its offshoring risk is 29.82 percent.
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