Business
Manufacturing industries that employ the most women
Records of American women being a part of the manufacturing workforce have been documented as far back as 1899.
At that time, it was cheaper to pay women to work in factories than men. Women’s presence in the manufacturing workforce surged during World War II, including making weapons and other military equipment. Companies laid off women after the war ended in favor of hiring returning veterans. In the ensuing years, automation use expanded to support manufacturing workers and, in some instances, replace them.
Even today, women remain underrepresented in the manufacturing industry, accounting for around 3 in 10 employees overall and 3 in 10 junior staff. They are rarer at higher levels—2 in 10 mid-level staff, less than 2 in 10 senior-level staff, and 9 in 100 CEOs.
There is a fair amount of variation across sectors, though. Women make up only 17% of those working in primary metals and fabricated metal products but comprise 50% of the workforce for textiles, apparel, and leather manufacturing.
To better understand how women contribute to the manufacturing industry today, Get It Made collected data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics‘ 2021 Current Population Survey to rank the manufacturing industries that employ the most women. Survey respondents were limited to binary gender classifications.
Efforts are underway to diversify the manufacturing workforce. Some manufacturers have formal programs they use to recruit women, and the Manufacturing Institute, a workforce development company, has started the STEP Women’s Initiative to train, study, and publicly recognize the role of women in the manufacturing industry.
Women can fill gaps in the manufacturing industry, which is currently facing a workforce shortage. Beyond that, there is room for them to help expand opportunities, replace an aging workforce, and fill roles in highly skilled and technical positions.
Read on to learn more about women working in different manufacturing industries in the U.S.
BigPixel Photo // Shutterstock
#16. Primary metals and fabricated metal products manufacturing
– Total employment: 1,539,000
– Percent women: 17%
Primary metals manufacturers refine metals from other materials to create castings, wires, rods, strips, sheets, and other basic products.
Fabricated metal products manufacturing handles the next step, turning the metal into various parts or end products. The main processes in this industry include machining, forming, bending, stamping, and forging to give shape to individual metal pieces, as well as assembling and welding to join metal pieces together.
In 2021, women metal workers made 93 cents for each dollar that men in the same job earned, despite demonstrating strong skills and holding vital positions.
SeventyFour // Shutterstock
#15. Wood products manufacturing
– Total employment: 427,000
– Percent women: 17%
Wood product manufacturers create prefab wooden buildings, manufactured mobile homes, wood trusses, wood flooring, wood containers, veneers, plywood, lumber, and more. Women woodworkers earn 82 cents on the dollar of their male counterparts.
This subsector’s main production processes include laminating, shaping, planing, and sawing of wood products, as well as smoothing, planing, and assembling them.
The forest products industry is a top 10 manufacturing employer in 45 states, employing almost 950,000 people nationwide. Yet women in 2019 occupied just 16% of top management jobs in the sector.
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
#14. Petroleum and coal products manufacturing
– Total employment: 198,000
– Percent women: 19%
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing usually involves the process of petroleum refinement, achieved through chemical techniques such as distillation and cracking. The subsector also includes establishments that further process coal and refined materials and manufacture products like petroleum lubricating oils and asphalt coatings.
Men who worked year-round, full-time roles as petroleum engineers made a median salary in 2019 of $138,456 (the most recent data available), while women with the same job made $126,712.
BearFotos // Shutterstock
#13. Nonmetallic mineral products manufacturing
– Total employment: 406,000
– Percent women: 22%
Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturers take clay, stone, gravel, and sand and transform them into finished products like cement, ceramics, and glass. Processes may include honing, shaping, cutting, and grinding. The techniques often involve heat and mixing, like when producing glass.
Of the nearly 9,000 firms in this sector in the U.S. in 2020, two-thirds were majority-owned by men, 12% were majority women-owned, and 16% were owned in equal shares by men and women. The remaining 6% did not report ownership statistics.
Paolo Bona // Shutterstock
#12. Machinery manufacturing
– Total employment: 1,170,000
– Percent women: 23%
Machinery manufacturers make products such as levers and gears, and other equipment. Some of this industry’s main processes include machining, forming, bending, stamping, and forging to shape metal pieces, while other methods involve assembling and welding to join together various parts.
While these processes are comparable to those used in the fabricated metal products manufacturing subsector, machinery manufacturing focuses on creating different machine parts through various metal-forming operations and more elaborate assembly operations.
There has been a wage disparity between men and women in the machinery manufacturing subsector. In 2019, year-round, full-time employed tool and die makers who were men earned a median of $58,378, while women in the same position earned $47,200. Men mechanical engineers also made more, earning a median of $91,189, while women mechanical engineers earned a median of $90,524.
Women are making strides in leadership in this subsector. In Ohio, French Oil Mill Machinery promoted Tayte French Lutz to vice president of the custom equipment manufacturing company in August 2022.
Pressmaster // Shutterstock
#11. Beverages and tobacco products manufacturing
– Total employment: 324,000
– Percent women: 25%
Beverage manufacturing includes producing alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages and ice. Tobacco manufacturing includes establishments that redry and stem tobacco and those making products such as cigars and cigarettes.
The average beverage manufacturing annual salary for men is $65,317 and $62,999 for women. But in tobacco manufacturing, the average woman’s salary is actually higher, at $85,493, while the average man’s salary is $81,978.
John Gress Media Inc // Shutterstock
#10. Transportation equipment manufacturing
– Total employment: 2,466,000
– Percent women: 25%
Transportation equipment manufacturers make equipment that moves goods and people. Processes are similar to those used in the machinery manufacturing subsector, from welding and forming to assembling plastic or metal parts into finished components and products. However, the processes used in the transportation equipment manufacturing subsector more commonly end in the manufacturing of finished vehicles and other modes of transport.
Men regularly make more than women for the same roles within this subsector, as is the case throughout manufacturing. In 2019, male aerospace engineers earned a median income of $112,402, more than $10,000 more than their women counterparts. Similar gender wage gaps are evident among machinists. Mechanical engineers have a much smaller gap—less than $1,000.
Dusan Petkovic // Shutterstock
#9. Furniture and related product manufacturing
– Total employment: 370,000
– Percent women: 26%
Making furniture and related products—from fixtures and cabinets to window blinds and mattresses—also requires the incorporation of fashion and design trends. Manufacturers may incorporate their own design services or buy them from industrial designers.
In the furniture and related product manufacturing subsector, the average annual salary for a man is $47,798, while for a woman, it’s $45,935. Three furniture manufacturers—Ikea, Steelcase, and Williams-Sonoma—made Forbes Magazine’s list of 2022’s Best Employers for Women.
pikselstock // Shutterstock
#8. Paper manufacturing and printing
– Total employment: 775,000
– Percent women: 26%
Paper manufacturing subsector industries involve at least one of three related product types: pulp, paper, and converted paper products. They print products like business forms, stationery, business cards, labels, books, newspapers, and other materials. That subsector includes tasks like bookbinding, platemaking services, and data imaging.
Overall, paper manufacturing has a significant wage gap, with year-round, full-time male paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders in 2019 earning a mean of $51,357 versus $32,943 for their female counterparts. But wages are virtually matched between men and women in the printing and related support activities subsector: $55,808 and $55,026 a year, respectively.
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
#7. Electrical equipment and appliances manufacturing
– Total employment: 432,000
– Percent women: 28%
Establishments in the electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing subsector make products that produce electrical power, as well as distribute and use it. These products include lighting fixtures, electric lamp bulbs, and household appliances ranging from coffee grinders and blenders to refrigerators and deep freezers. They also include electrical equipment such as transformers, generators, and electric motors, as well as other electrical components and equipment such as batteries, insulated wire, and fuse boxes.
Women entered the electrical manufacturing workforce in the early 1900s, mostly making electric motors and lightbulbs. With mechanization across manufacturing mainly driven by demand during World War I, employers sought lower-wage workers. That often meant recruiting women and minorities. The factory jobs generally reserved for white men opened up during the two world wars, with many roles returned to veterans following the wars.
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
#6. Computers and electronic products manufacturing
– Total employment: 1,017,000
– Percent women: 29%
Computer and electronic product manufacturing subsector industries include communications equipment makers, computer peripherals, computers, and comparable electrical products and components.
Men dominate the electronics manufacturing industry, but women in the industry have carved out places for themselves. In the past, when technology jobs did not pay as much as today and were considered menial, women held those jobs—only to be overshadowed by men when they became profitable.
Sata Production // Shutterstock
#5. Plastics and rubber products manufacturing
– Total employment: 525,000
– Percent women: 32%
Businesses in the plastics and rubber products manufacturing subsector process raw rubber and plastics materials to produce goods.
In the plastics manufacturing industry in 2021, women represented a more significant share of workers than they had 10 years earlier, with 3 in 10 workers being women. But even then, according to Robin Graves—an executive search firm senior account manager at Midland Consultants who has over two decades of experience in recruitment in the rubber industry—there were “quite a few women” in the industry in 2012. She reported they held various positions, including those of chemists and presidents and those in sales and marketing.
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
#4. Miscellaneous manufacturing
– Total employment: 1,521,000
– Percent women: 35%
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries produce products that are not classifiable in other Bureau of Labor Statistics categories. Examples of industries in this group include those that manufacture musical instruments, artists’ materials, dolls, caskets, silverware, and jewelry.
In 2021, 34.7% of the people employed in this industry were women.
SeventyFour // Shutterstock
#3. Chemicals manufacturing
– Total employment: 1,425,000
– Percent women: 38%
Chemical manufacturers create products from inorganic or organic raw materials. Some examples of industry groups include manufacturers of paints, soaps, medicines, pesticides, resins, and other products.
More women in the chemical manufacturing industry are entering the workforce and taking leadership positions. Additionally, support organizations exist expressly to bolster women in the industry, including the Women in Specialties group of the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates and Women in Chemicals.
Dusan Petkovic // Shutterstock
#2. Food manufacturing
– Total employment: 1,682,000
– Percent women: 41%
Food manufacturing companies turn crops and livestock into products ready for food supply chains or consumer consumption. Some examples include tortilla manufacturers, bakeries, dairy product manufacturers, slaughterhouses, animal food manufacturers, and others.
Women hold fewer than 2 in 10 senior leadership positions in the food and beverage industry, according to Females in Food—even though 8 in 10 women worldwide make food-buying decisions.
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
#1. Textiles, apparel, and leather manufacturing
– Total employment: 440,000
– Percent women: 51%
Textile mills turn basic fibers into a product like fabric or yarn. Textile or apparel companies will then use that fabric or yarn to produce consumer items like textile bags, towels, sheets, and clothes—and, sometimes, companies might also use materials from various industries.
Textile product mills manufacture textile products that are not apparel, such as towels and sheets.
Apparel manufacturing industries are involved in two manufacturing processes: making the fabric itself and then cutting and sewing it to create a garment. Leather and allied product manufacturing include making leather out of hides and using that leather to create final products, as well as creating leather substitute products out of textiles, plastics, or rubber.
In the leather tanning and finishing and other allied products manufacturing industry, men make slightly more than women, on average—with the average man’s salary being $46,088 and the average woman’s salary being $45,281. Globally, the textiles, clothing, leather, and footwear sector provides many employment opportunities, especially, and increasingly, for young women.
This story originally appeared on Get It Made and was produced and
distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
In today’s digital climate, consuming sports has never been easier. Thanks to a plethora of streaming sites, alternative broadcasts, and advancements to home entertainment systems, the average fan has myriad options to watch and learn about their favorite teams at the touch of a button—all without ever having to leave the couch.
As a result, more and more sports venues have committed to improving and modernizing their facilities and fan experiences to compete with at-home audiences. Consider using mobile ticketing and parking passes, self-service kiosks for entry and ordering food, enhanced video boards, and jumbotrons that supply data analytics and high-definition replays. These innovations and upgrades are meant to draw more revenue and attract various sponsored partners. They also deliver unique and convenient in-person experiences that rival and outmatch traditional ways of enjoying games.
In Los Angeles, the Rams and Chargers’ SoFi Stadium has become the gold standard for football venues. It’s an architectural wonder with closer views, enhanced hospitality, and a translucent roof that cools the stadium’s internal temperature.
The Texas Rangers’ ballpark, Globe Life Field, added field-level suites and lounges that resemble the look and feel of a sports bar. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers are building a new arena (in addition to retail space, team offices, and an outdoor public plaza) that will seat 18,000 people and feature a fan section called The Wall, which will regulate attire and rooting interest.
It’s no longer acceptable to operate with old-school facilities and technology. Just look at Commanders Field (formerly FedExField), home of the Washington Commanders, which has faced criticism for its faulty barriers, leaking ceilings, poor food options, and long lines. Understandably, the team has been attempting to find a new location to build a state-of-the-art stadium and keep up with the demand for high-end amenities.
As more organizations audit their stadiums and arenas and keep up with technological innovations, Uniqode compiled a list of the latest tech advancements to coax—and keep—fans inside venues.
Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register // Getty Images
Just Walk Out technology
After successfully installing its first cashierless grocery store in 2020, Amazon has continued to put its tracking technology into practice.
In 2023, the Seahawks incorporated Just Walk Out technology at various merchandise stores throughout Lumen Field, allowing fans to purchase items with a swipe and scan of their palms.
The radio-frequency identification system, which involves overhead cameras and computer vision, is a substitute for cashiers and eliminates long lines.
RFID is now found in a handful of stadiums and arenas nationwide. These stores have already curbed checkout wait times, eliminated theft, and freed up workers to assist shoppers, according to Jon Jenkins, vice president of Just Walk Out tech.
Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox // Getty Images
Self-serve kiosks
In the same vein as Amazon’s self-scanning technology, self-serve kiosks have become a more integrated part of professional stadiums and arenas over the last few years. Some of these function as top-tier vending machines with canned beers and nonalcoholic drinks, shuffling lines quicker with virtual bartenders capable of spinning cocktails and mixed drinks.
The kiosks extend past beverages, as many college and professional venues have started using them to scan printed and digital tickets for more efficient entrance. It’s an effort to cut down lines and limit the more tedious aspects of in-person attendance, and it’s led various competing kiosk brands to provide their specific conveniences.
Kyle Rivas // Getty Images
Mobile ordering
Is there anything worse than navigating the concourse for food and alcohol and subsequently missing a go-ahead home run, clutch double play, or diving catch?
Within the last few years, more stadiums have eliminated those worries thanks to contactless mobile ordering. Fans can select food and drink items online on their phones to be delivered right to their seats. Nearly half of consumers said mobile app ordering would influence them to make more restaurant purchases, according to a 2020 study at PYMNTS. Another study showed a 22% increase in order size.
Many venues, including Yankee Stadium, have taken notice and now offer personalized deliveries in certain sections and established mobile order pick-up zones throughout the ballpark.
Darrian Traynor // Getty Images
QR codes at seats
Need to remember a player’s name? Want to look up an opponent’s statistics at halftime? The team at Digital Seat Media has you covered.
Thus far, the company has added seat tags to more than 50 venues—including two NFL stadiums—with QR codes to promote more engagement with the product on the field. After scanning the code, fans can access augmented reality features, look up rosters and scores, participate in sponsorship integrations, and answer fan polls on the mobile platform.
Boris Streubel/Getty Images for DFL // Getty Images
Real-time data analytics and generative AI
As more venues look to reinvigorate the in-stadium experience, some have started using generative artificial intelligence and real-time data analytics. Though not used widely yet, generative AI tools can create new content—text, imagery, or music—in conjunction with the game, providing updates, instant replays, and location-based dining suggestions
Last year, the Masters golf tournament even began including AI score projections in its mobile app. Real-time data is streamlining various stadium pitfalls, allowing operation managers to monitor staffing issues at busy food spots, adjust parking flows, and alert custodians to dirty or damaged bathrooms. The data also helps with security measures. Open up an app at a venue like the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and report safety issues or belligerent fans to help better target disruptions and preserve an enjoyable experience.
Story editing by Nicole Caldwell. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick.
This story originally appeared on Uniqode and was produced and
distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
Inflation has cooled substantially, but Americans are still feeling the strain of sky-high prices. Consumers have to spend more on the same products, from the grocery store to the gas pump, than ever before.
Increased import costs are part of the problem. The U.S. is the largest goods importer in the world, bringing in $3.2 trillion in 2022. Import costs rose dramatically in 2021 and 2022 due to shipping constraints, world events, and other supply chain interruptions and cost pressures. At the June 2022 peak, import costs for all commodities were up 18.6% compared to January 2020.
While import costs have since fallen most months—helping to lower inflation—they remain nearly 12% above what they were in 2020. And beginning in 2024, import costs began to rise again, with January seeing the highest one-month increase since March 2022.
Machinery Partner used Bureau of Labor Statistics data to identify the soaring import costs that have translated to higher costs for Americans. Imports in a few industries have had an outsized impact, helping drive some of the overall spikes. Crop production, primary metal manufacturing, petroleum and coal product manufacturing, and oil and gas extraction were the worst offenders, with costs for each industry remaining at least 20% above 2020.
Machinery Partner
Imports related to crops, oil, and metals are keeping costs up
At the mid-2022 peak, import costs related to oil, gas, petroleum, and coal products had the highest increases, doubling their pre-pandemic costs. Oil prices went up globally as leaders anticipated supply disruptions from the conflict in Ukraine. The U.S. and other allied countries put limits on Russian revenues from oil sales through a price cap of oil, gas, and coal from the country, which was enacted in 2022.
This activity around the world’s second-largest oil producer pushed prices up throughout the market and intensified fluctuations in crude oil prices. Previously, the U.S. had imported hundreds of thousands of oil barrels from Russia per day, making the country a leading source of U.S. oil. In turn, the ban affected costs in the U.S. beyond what occurred in the global economy.
Americans felt this at the pump—with gasoline prices surging 60% for consumers year-over-year in June 2022 and remaining elevated to this day—but also throughout the economy, as the entire supply chain has dealt with higher gas, oil, and coal prices.
Some of the pressure from petroleum and oil has shifted to new industries: crop production and primary metal manufacturing. In each of these sectors, import costs in January were up about 40% from 2020.
Primary metal manufacturing experienced record import price growth in 2021, which continued into early 2022. The subsequent monthly and yearly drops have not been substantial enough to bring costs down to pre-COVID levels. Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting shows that increasing alumina and aluminum production prices had the most significant influence on primary metal import prices. Aluminum is widely used in consumer products, from cars and parts to canned beverages, which in turn inflated rapidly.
Aluminum was in short supply in early 2022 after high energy costs—i.e., gas—led to production cuts in Europe, driving aluminum prices to a 13-year high. The U.S. also imposes tariffs on aluminum imports, which were implemented in 2018 to cut down on overcapacity and promote U.S. aluminum production. Suppliers, including Canada, Mexico, and European Union countries, have exemptions, but the tax still adds cost to imports.
U.S. agricultural imports have expanded in recent decades, with most products coming from Canada, Mexico, the EU, and South America. Common agricultural imports include fruits and vegetables—especially those that are tropical or out-of-season—as well as nuts, coffee, spices, and beverages. Turmoil with Russia was again a large contributor to cost increases in agricultural trade, alongside extreme weather events and disruptions in the supply chain. Americans felt these price hikes directly at the grocery store.
The U.S. imports significantly more than it exports, and added costs to those imports are felt far beyond its ports. If import prices continue to rise, overall inflation would likely follow, pushing already high prices even further for American consumers.
Story editing by Shannon Luders-Manuel. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn.
This story originally appeared on Machinery Partner and was produced and
distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
Nearly every state requires drivers to carry car insurance, but the laws vary, and many factors affect the cost of coverage.
Some are controllable, at least to degrees: the type of car you have and your credit history. Some are not: your age and gender. Your marital status, place of residence, and claims history are among the other variables that go into it.
Across the United States, premiums are soaring, rising 20% year over year and increasing six times faster than consumer prices overall as of December 2023, CBS reported. Last September, CNN noted that car insurance rates jumped more in the previous year than they had since 1976.
CBS pointed to many potential reasons for these increases in prices. Coronavirus pandemic-era issues have made buying, fixing, and replacing vehicles costlier. Extreme weather events caused by climate change also damage more vehicles, while insurance companies are increasing their business costs. Severe and more frequent crashes are to blame as well, CNN reported.
On top of these, local factors such as population density, the number of uninsured drivers, and the frequency of insurance claims all affect premiums, which can lead motorists to change or switch their coverage, use other modes of transportation, or even alter decisions about when to buy a vehicle or what to look for.
To see how geography affects cost, Cheap Insurance mapped the states where people pay the most in car insurance premiums using MarketWatch data. Premium estimates were based on full-coverage car insurance for a 35-year-old driver with good credit and a clean driving record. Data accurate as of February 2024.
Cheap Insurance
Americans pay $167 per month on average for full-coverage insurance
There are common denominators among the five states where it’s most expensive to have car insurance: Michigan, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, and Kentucky. Washington D.C. is another pricey locale, ranking #4 overall.
Three of these six are no-fault jurisdictions and require additional coverage beyond coverage to pay for medical costs. Michigan notably calls for $250,000 in personal injury protection (though people with Medicaid and Medicare may qualify for lower limits), $1 million in personal property insurance for damage done by your car in Michigan, and residual bodily injury and property damage liability that starts at $250,000 for a person harmed in an accident.
Other commonalities between these states include high urban population densities. At least 9 in 10 people in Nevada, Florida, and Washington D.C. live in cities and urban areas, which leads to more crashes and thefts and high rates of uninsured drivers and lawsuits. Additionally, Louisiana, Florida, and Kentucky rank #5, #8, and #10, respectively, in motor vehicle crash deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2021 based on Department of Transportation data analyzed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Canva
#5. Kentucky
– Monthly full-coverage insurance: $210
– Monthly liability insurance: $57
Canva
#4. Nevada
– Monthly full-coverage insurance: $232
– Monthly liability insurance: $107
Canva
#3. Louisiana
– Monthly full-coverage insurance: $253
– Monthly liability insurance: $77
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#2. Florida
– Monthly full-coverage insurance: $270
– Monthly liability insurance: $115
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#1. Michigan
– Monthly full-coverage insurance: $304
– Monthly liability insurance: $113
Story editing by Carren Jao. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick.
This story originally appeared on Cheap Insurance and was produced and
distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
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