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In my last Fast Company column, I shared my reasons for manufacturing my electric trucks in the U.S. Im not alone. While near-shoring to North America has been underway for several years, the current tariff shifts and shipping complexities make U.S. manufacturing a higher priority still. However, there were 292,825 factories in the U.S. as of 2021. Of those, 846 employ 1,000 people or more. Some of these are my engineering firms clients, giving us a front row seat to the complexity of retrofitting an existing factory to full U.S. manufacturing. While building a new factory is expensive and lengthy, these companies tasks are more difficult still. There are good reasons for making the shift as quickly as possible. Moving to most or fully U.S. manufacturing brings higher visibility, faster response time, and higher resilience to supply chain disruption, as well as greater protection from tariff shifts and geopolitical change. But if youre early in the process, heres my advice for your transition: Determine a priority ranking for the refining and raw materials you shift to in-country and North American sourcing. Give highest ranking to categories including defense, high value items (such as steel, aluminum, and rare minerals, etc.), and consumer safety items (such as pharmaceutical components, etc.). Be more strategic in the offshore suppliers you continue using for non-advanced manufacturing by prioritizing closer and more geographic-friendly locations for production and shipment such as Mexico and Argentina. Utilize government-backed capital, where possible, for extracting/mining minerals and metals such as lithium, red mud, magnesium, etc. Beyond the high-ranking product categories, move to domestic suppliers for primary materials such as steel, aluminum, cement, and plastics. Likewise, reduce offshoring of technical staff as well as raw materials, where possible. Use all means possible to become power independent through solar production, micro-grids, and nuclear power production. Consider creating a 4-year completion bonus for military vets. Hire vets wherever possible, as they make great workers and entrepreneurs. Likewise, we can press for future policy changes that best support Made in America manufacturing, as follows: Encourage ship building in the U.S., as well as creating new means of automated freight transit. Work towards transformation plans for government-funded R&D to include more attractive loans, rebates, and grants, as well as programs for tax-free status for intellectual property during commercialization, to incent and support organizations making the shift. Consider energy rebates to U.S. manufacturers and distributors to make American manufacturing more cost-effective and viable. Create policies to include the cost of offshore staff in tariff calculations. Expand trade relationships with Caribbean nations for products such as sugar, avocados, bananas, etc. Avoid or even ban foreign ownership of the food supply chain. Create fair competition for government contracting. Make health supplements and homeopathic medicines tax deductible, to promote a healthy workforce. While it may not be readily evident, these policy changes are related to successful reshoring. In all, we need larger scale, lower costs, and more automated and simplified mechanisms for product manufacturing. These issues, in my experience, are as equally important as the raw materials we require. We need increased support for niche manufacturing. In my opinion, we also need deregulation, and increased access to land (particularly in the west; the federal government owns great quantities of the available land, which is choking available supply). I believe we need better education, self-reliance, health, and incentive structures to get the capital, entrepreneurs, and workers for Made in America manufacturing. Whos with me? Matthew Chang is the founding partner of Chang Robotics.
Category:
E-Commerce
Layoff announcements from U.S. employers have increased 80% to 696,309 job cuts through May of this year, compared to the 385,859 cuts announced throughout the first five months of 2024, according to the latest layoffs report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Federal government agencies have been most impacted by planned job cuts in 2025, with 284,827 job reductions year to date, compared to 36,325 U.S. government job cuts announced during the same period last year. Retail is the second-leading industry in job cuts this year, with 75,802 cuts since the start of 2025. That’s a 274% increase in retail job reductions compared to the same period last year, when U.S. companies announced 20,276 layoffs. Why are companies laying off workers? According to the report, DOGE-related efforts remain the leading reason given for job cut announcements this year. This includes reductions in federal employee and contractor roles, and private nonprofit layoffs resulting from federal funding cuts. Market and economic conditions were the second-most cited explanation for announced U.S. layoffs, followed by store closings. In a news release discussing the layoff report, Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas said, “Tariffs, funding cuts, consumer spending, and overall economic pessimism are putting intense pressure on companies’ workforces. Companies are spending less, slowing hiring, and sending layoff notices.” Retail store closures are trending upward Store closings being among the top reasons cited for U.S. retail layoffs is unsurprising. Fast Company has written extensively about retail store closings throughout the U.S., from companies like Kohl’s, Macy’s, and JCPenney. While some retailers have chosen to shutter the doors of some locations, others have filed for bankruptcy protection and announced company-wide store closures. In January 2025, Joann Fabrics filed for bankruptcy for a second time. The fabric and crafts store previously filed for bankruptcy protection in March 2024. Similarly, Rite Aid publicized its decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 5. The retail pharmacy first filed for bankruptcy in October 2023. Hiring efforts are up slightly, yet remain sluggish As for hiring efforts, U.S. companies have announced 79,741 planned hires through May of this year, an increase of 57% from the same period last year. However, planned hiring announcements remain historically low compared to pre-pandemic and early-pandemic years.
Category:
E-Commerce
Just over six months ago, Fast Company asked: How long will Elon Musk and Donald Trumps lovefest last? Well, we have our answer. This week, tensions escalated between the two over Trumps proposed One Big Beautiful Bill aimed at cutting taxes, which Musk derided as a disgusting abomination. Their disagreement deepened over electric vehicle mandates, which Musk strongly supports. During a White House photo op, the president expressed that he was very disappointed with Musks response, threatened to cancel federal contracts held by Musks companies, and claimed he had asked Musk to leave his administrationa claim Musk denies. Musk has been no less turbulent in handling the breakup. First he mocked Trumps tax bill as a disgusting abomination. Then he claimed: Without me, Trump would have lost the election, accusing the president of showing such ingratitude after Musk allegedly bankrolled large parts of his presidential campaigncontributing a reported quarter of a billion dollars. And, of course, there’s Musk’s 130-day stint as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a position he left in recent weeks. Musk then took a more personal turn, alleging without evidence that the president is named in the controversial “Epstein Files”documents related to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epsteinand suggesting that Trumps inclusion is the reason the records have not been released. Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out, he added. Trump, for his part, was taking no prisoners on social media. The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elons Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didnt do it! the president posted on Truth Social. In response, Musk announced that SpaceX would begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecrafton which NASA is heavily reliantimmediately. This allin case youre wonderingoccurred over the course of a few hours. Short seller Jim Chaos has reportedly called it the most predictable breakup ever. Wedbush Securities principal analyst Dan Ives said the rift was jaw-dropping and a shock to the market, and putting major fear for Tesla investors on what is ahead. Neither Musk nor the White House responded to Fast Companys requests for comment. But after such a dramatic fallout, both men may be questioning whether their short-lived bromance was worth it. The real question now is: Who will emerge the least battered and bruised? Trumps connection with Musk has hurt his image among many who believe hes become a puppet of the South African entrepreneur. Musks comment that Trump was not grateful for his support only reinforces that perception. Trump is also left with the challenge of what to do about DOGE, says Merici Vinton, a former U.S. Digital Service official. The driving force behind DOGE was power to Musk and his friends, not the people, she says. With Elon and Trumps breakup, every DOGE teammate remaining inside of government is loyal to Musk, and DOGE is now a national security threat. As for Musk, his electric vehicle company Tesla is grappling with a sharp decline in global sales as consumers grow disillusioned with his combative approach to government. The companys stock has fallen 15% in a single day amid Musks public feud with Trump on social mediaand continues to drop. More than $150 billion has been wiped from Teslas market value due to the spat. The tax bill Musk so strongly opposes, if passed, could saddle his companies with billions in additional costs. And with every incendiary tweet, the likelihood of his companies federal contracts being canceled only increases. I don’t think anything Musk has done in the last year has been worth it for him, says Steven Buckley, who researches U.S. politics and social media at City St. Georges, University of London. In less than a year Musk has pissed off all Democrats, wasted millions of dollars on various state elections, trashed what positive branding Tesla had, and now has seemingly generated a large rift within the Republican caucus. Buckley notes that the only silver lining for Musk in his association with Trumpthe potential for favorable government contractsnow appears to be in serious jeopardy, with Trump himself threatening to revoke them. In the long term, Musks reputation may have taken a lasting hit. No sane Democrat will want to work with or give contracts to Musk’s businesses in the future, Buckley says. And it seems there will now be many Republicans thinking the same as well.
Category:
E-Commerce
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