Advances in production technologies, along with rising costs and regulations overseas are likely to result in as many as 200,000 manufacturing jobs returning to the UK over the next decade.
As the Telegraph reports, these are the findings of a report by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and Lloyds Banking Group.
The report found that this trend is likely to cut the trade deficit by a third and will “fundamentally change” the economics of manufacturing.
“With a strong vision and purposeful intervention, the decline in manufacturing employment could be arrested and some increase in manufacturing employment, of the order of 100,000 to 200,000, could occur over the coming decade,” the study said.
The UK manufacturing sector currently employs around 2.5m people and accounts for 10.5 percent of the nation’s economic output.
The report also stressed that in order to realise potential opportunities, UK manufacturers need to exports more now to increase market access and also to ensure that highly-skilled employees are retained.
Advances in production technologies are claimed to also have the potential to revive Australia’s manufacturing sector. Recently advanced manufacturing has been suggested as a replacement for the ailing automotive industry.