Public perceptions of manufacturing improved after positive pandemic media coverage

News

Manufacturing’s response to COVID is cited as a factor in positively changing the public’s perception of the sector, a new poll has found.

Ventilator production at Ford's Dagenham plant
Ventilator production at Ford's Dagenham plant - (Image: Ford Motor Company)

The study of 2,436 people shows that most of the general public thinks manufacturing is hugely important to the future of the UK economy.

Perceptions about pay, working conditions and career prospects have also improved, according to the survey Perceptions vs Reality carried out by Savanta for Make UK and Sheffield Hallam University.

In the last survey in 2018, people cited declinist and negative media coverage, and an overall feeling that Britain didn’t “make things any more”. Now, 93 per cent said they feel manufacturing is critical to growing the UK economy, compared with 70 per cent five years ago.

The turning point was COVID and the media coverage of manufacturing’s response, which highlighted the automotive sector building ventilators for the NHS, clothing and textile companies making medical gowns and facemasks, and food and drink factories making hand sanitisers and ensuring that household needs were met. Britain’s pharmaceutical companies led the way in producing the vaccines that let life return to normal.

Consequently, parents now see manufacturing as a high skilled, high tech and high wage sector. The average food and drink quality manager in the South East typically earns £61,000 while a purchasing manager in Yorkshire and the Humber will take home an average of £51,000, which is nine per cent above the national average.

MORE FROM MANUFACTURING

The gender divide was stark in 2018 when 24 per cent of parents said they would encourage their son to work in manufacturing, falling to 14 per cent for daughters. Now, through outreach work and campaigns by manufacturing companies, 36 per cent of parents would be happy for their daughters to work in the sector, while 44 per cent of parents would encourage boys to work in manufacturing.

Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK said: “The hard work and resilience of manufacturers over the last few years has paid off and this is reflected in the uptick of perceptions among the British public. But there is still work to be done as over half of children surveyed had not even considered a job in manufacturing. National Manufacturing Day is an opportunity to showcase what the sector has to offer to the next generation of makers, creators and innovators.”

Savanta surveyed 2,436 people between the 20th and 28th June 2023.

perception of manufacturing