Furniture

Workers & Jobs

Introduction

Employment in the NC furniture industry has been suffering from a decline since the 1990s. It has dropped from 78,323 in 1996 to 52,453 workers in 2006. The weakening in the traditional manufacturing sectors continues, and according to the Occupational Outlook Quarterly (Spring 2002), it is predicted that furniture occupations will continue to decline due to automation, increasing imports and outsourcing.1 The contracting of the furniture industry has the most impact on North Carolina, which is the largest furniture manufacturing state in the United States. According to data provided by the US Census Bureau in 2001, the NC furniture industry employed the most people, followed by California and Michigan.2

The household and institutional furniture sector is the largest in North Carolina, and it employed approximately 42,600 workers in 2006. The office furniture and fixture manufacturing sector has more than 7,000 employees, and the other furniture products manufacturing sector consisted of 2,700 workers in 2006.3 In 2006, a number of furniture manufacturers were affected by consolidations and closures, and the total number of people affected by layoffs reached 2,416, compared to 1998 where there were only about 100 jobs lost to layoffs4 Lenoir County was hit the hardest, losing 1,120 jobs in 2006.5 Growing unemployment in the furniture industry is a major issue in North Carolina, and the state and federal government have implemented retraining programs and job placement services for unemployed workers.

Retraining Programs Available to Unemployed Furniture Workers

The chance of finding a new job in the furniture industry is probably very low for most displaced workers. Therefore, in order to help unemployed workers, the state and federal governments have allocated funding for unemployment benefits and retraining programs in North Carolina, specifically to assist displaced textile and furniture workers. These programs include the National Emergency Grant, worth $1.45 million in assistance to job-seekers, and the North Carolina JobLink Career Center System, North Carolina's workforce development system. More on these two programs can be found in the Public Policy section of this website's Furniture section.

In summary, the core services provide basic assessment of skill levels and abilities, and assistance in job search and placement; the intensive services offer more comprehensive skills and abilities assessment, counseling services and development of useful skills; and the training services provide a wide range of retraining programs, which include but are not limited to on-the-job training, skills upgrading, literacy training and entrepreneurial training.6 In addition, North Carolina was given state funds to offer the Reemployment Initiative (REI) since April 2000. REI is a 12-week long program, and its main goal is to aid unemployment insurance claimants to find new jobs and reenter the workforce as soon as possible. REI is beneficial to its participants and the Unemployment Insurance Trust Funds, because it was estimated that it would save the fund approximately $42 million in 2001.7

North Carolina Community College System

The North Carolina Community College System is another important resource for unemployed workers to retrain and upgrade their skills. The community college system's continuing education program enrollment reached 568,093 for the 2004-05 school year, which demonstrated the program's effectiveness and positive reputation.8 The community college system is useful in retraining workers in more promising industries. This is especially relevant because the traditional manufacturing industries, including furniture, create fewer new jobs for workers, making it important for workers to acquire new skills that are useful in other industries. In particular, many students also received information technology-related training.

Workers are not the only ones who value the community college programs; employers also believe that the community colleges are essential in creating a trained workforce for several NC industries. For example, the community college system received high ratings from employers who completed the New and Expanding Industry Training program. In 2002-2003, over 90% of the companies rated the programs as either "excellent" or "very good" in all three categories: meeting the company's expectations; overall impact of the program on the company's operations; and the effectiveness of preparing the company's employees for productivity.9

Education and Skills: The Key to Staying Competitive in the Job Market

As globalization becomes more influential in today's economy, many US employees face the challenge of competing with foreign workers, who are often paid less and work longer hours than their domestic counterparts. In order to stay ahead of the competition, US workers need to be more educated, skilled and productive. Although outsourcing jobs to foreign countries is cost beneficial to US companies, skilled and educated workers offer the type of specialized labor that keeps America innovative. With workers who can handle more sophisticated work, American firms are able to obtain a higher quality focus on detail and specifications and to maintain innovation within the US furniture industry.

In an interview with Tom Tilley, the CEO of Thomasville Furniture Industries Inc. (Thomasville, NC), Tilley emphasized that the skills of his employees are very important because Thomasville's competitive edge comes from its workers having craftsmanship. To ensure the quality of their employees, Thomasville offers different kinds of training programs and incentives to encourage employees to continue gaining new knowledge. First, the company offers on-the-job training for most positions. Second, Thomasville provides English classes for workers who speak foreign languages in order to improve communication and productivity in the working environment. These classes are offered in-house two times a week. Opportunities for out of class learning on the worker's own time is also arranged. Workers who take advantage of these classes are let off work at 3 p.m. in order to attend the two-hour classes; the company pays for the first hour of each class to ensure incentive and fair compensation. Third, in-house technology training is provided for workers to upgrade their computer skills, particularly those who deal with computerized machinery.

Outside of the factory, Thomasville has maintained positive working relations with community colleges in counties where their factories are located, such as Lenoir, Davidson and Catawba Community Colleges. The company has, for example, collaborated with Davidson County Community College to offer apprenticeship programs to train its workers.10 Thomasville also encourages its employees to further their education. It supports workers to get their high school equivalency (GED), and if necessary, the company offers support to help them attend college and pursue master's degrees in their fields of work. Although employers offer many upgrading opportunities for their workers and are willing to promote them to higher positions, numerous employees are laid off due to overall reduction of jobs within traditional manufacturing industries.

Education and retraining are very important to upgrade the American labor force, and enable the country to remain competitive in the world economy. The training Thomasville Furniture Industries Inc. offers to its employees, and the policies within North Carolina, illustrate the amount of emphasis placed on educating the workers. It may take some time for the education and training to have an effect on the labor force, but at this point it brings long-term benefits to the United States, as it helps employed workers to retain their current jobs or move up to higher value-added jobs. Unemployed workers also benefit, as they are able to reenter the workforce with new skills and better education.

References

1. Roger Moncarz and Azure Reaser, "The 2000-10 Job Outlook in Brief," Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Vol. 42, No. 1, Spring 2002. Last accessed August 9, 2007. [http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2002/spring/intro.pdf]
2. Robert Lacy, Whither North Carolina Furniture Manufacturing?" Working Paper No. 04-07, Richmond, VA: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, September 2004.
3. North Carolina Employment Security Commission (NCESC), Employment and Wages by Industry. Last accessed July 29, 2007. [http://www.ncesc.com/lmi/industry/industryMain.asp#industryWages]
4. NCESC, "Announced Business Closings," Last accessed February 10, 2006. [http://eslmi23.esc.state.nc.us/masslayoff/]
5. High Point Enterprise, "For Furniture Industry Workers in the State and Nation, the Hard Hits Keep On Coming," KnightRidder/Tribune Business News, August 23, 2004.
6. North Carolina JobLink, "Memorandum of Understanding," North Carolina JobLink Career Center System, February 2003. Lats accessed August 9, 2007. [http://www.nccommerce.com/en/WorkforceServices/FindInformationForIndividuals/JobLinkCareerCenters/]
7. NCESC, Insight: North Carolina's Labor and Economic Outlook, October 2001. Last accessed August 9, 2007. [http://www.ncesc.com/lmi/specialResearch/specialResMain.asp]
8. North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS), NCCCS Annual Statistical Report 2004-05, Raleigh, NC: NCCCS, 2005. Last accessed August 9, 2007. [http://www.ncccs.cc.nc.us/Statistical_Reports/collegeYear2004-2005/annual/ann0405.htm]
9. North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS), NCCCS Annual Statistical Report 2002-03, Raleigh, NC: NCCCS, 2003. Last accessed August 9, 2007. [http://www.ncccs.cc.nc.us/Statistical_Reports/collegeYear2002-2003/annual/ann0203.htm]
10. NCCCS, "NCCCS... 2004-05" (fn. 8).
11. Interview, Tom Tilley, November 19, 2004. (Full text in Corporations section)