Reshoring could create up to 200,000 jobs by mid-2020s

Posted on 12 Mar 2014 by The Manufacturer

A new PricewaterhouseCoopers report says the UK’s reshoring movement has the potential to create between 100,000-200,000 extra UK jobs over the next decade.

The survey states the figure accounts for industries such as textiles and advanced manufacturing to business support services and R&D.

This scale of reshoring could boost the level of UK GDP by around 0.4-0.8% by the mid-2020s, which equates to around £6-12 billion at today’s values.

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John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, said the prevalence of reshoring is becoming apparent across a number of UK sectors.

“Since the 1990s, there has been a major trend in the UK and other advanced economies for businesses to offshore activities to lower cost emerging economies.

“However, there are signs that the tide may be beginning to turn, with examples of ‘reshoring’ back to the UK starting to crop up in a range of different industry sectors.

Mr Hawksworth continued: “This trend to reshore is still at a very early stage, but our analysis suggests that the impact on jobs and output could build up gradually to material levels over the next decade or so.

“Of course, some jobs will also still be offshored over this period, but it should be much more of a two way street going forward.

The report also argues that UK manufacturers need to take a fresh look at their location decisions, in light of trends such as a reduction of the wage gap with China, volatile international transport costs and desire by UK managers to better control quality.

Darren Jukes, UK manufacturing leader, PwC, added: “Reshoring offers significant opportunities for UK manufacturing in terms of growth and job creation, particularly in sectors ranging from textiles to the manufacturing of computers, electronics and other machinery.

“It also highlights the highly competitive positioning and attractiveness of the UK manufacturing industry against global competition.”