JFF Vice President of Workforce Innovation Tameshia Bridges Mansfield was quoted in an ABC News story about an ongoing increase in the number of women in the manufacturing workforce.

The uptick coincides with an overall revival in manufacturing, and Bridges Mansfield told ABC News that the opportunity to earn good wages may be driving women to choose manufacturing opportunities over jobs in sectors whose workforces typically have large percentages of women.

“Wages are significantly higher,” she said. “Women are looking at their options and what’s available.”

In addition, as production lines become increasingly automated, the public’s perception of manufacturing careers has improved, with people realizing that not all factory jobs involve physically demanding labor in sometimes unsafe settings.

“Manufacturing jobs look different—it’s not the dirty, dark shop floor,” Bridges Mansfield said. “The exposure to manufacturing and what it is in 2022 may make it more appealing to women and girls in the long term.”