As manufacturing has become more sophisticated with high-tech equipment, its jobs have required more training, said Ed Simon, an analyst with the state labor department. Manufacturing also supports other industries. Each job helps generate up to three jobs among direct suppliers and indirect services such as restaurants and other retailers, said Charles Twardowski, executive director of the Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The Lear Corp., for example, generates 13 percent of its business from DaimlerChrysler, and employs 332 workers at a plant near Newark. It supplies seats and other parts for the Durango.
Manufacturing also tends to be an early indicator of the economy's overall direction.
Many manufacturers said they felt the effects of the recent slowdown six months earlier than other industries. We've been able to maintain our business. But we don't have the 20 to 30 percent growth rate we saw from 1996 to 1999.