HOW MANY JOBS ARE AVAILABLE IN CAPITAL GOODS?

The capital goods industry is of tremendous significance, especially with regard to how it contributes to the creation of job opportunities. While capital goods are largely utilized by manufacturing companies and various other business establishments, the major benefit of such goods is that they pave the way for employment thereby promoting productivity.

The proliferation of capital goods –such as high-level industrial machines and other sophisticated equipment –in urban areas justifies the reason why such areas flourish with employment opportunities. Capital goods make it easy for humans to produce other items, thereby giving room for job availability.

Meanwhile, job availability is one of the key factors that attract people to urban areas. While this justifies why urban areas are more populated than rural areas, there’s no denying that the capital goods industry significantly contributes to job availability in any country in the world.

Therefore, you may be keen to ask the question –how many jobs are there in the capital goods industry? While this post provides a clear answer to the latter question, it further provides insightful information about capital goods and the capital goods industry.

An Overview of Capital Goods

Capital goods are –usually tangible –items with economic value and whose procurement or purchase is intended for the production of other items (goods). The perhaps simplest definition we can give capital goods is that they are products we utilize in manufacturing other products.

While capital goods can vary in nature, economic value and mode of use, the underlying motive for using them is to produce other commodities or services. In the context of economics, some of the characteristics of capital goods are tangibility and durability.

By durability, capital goods are meant to be used over a long period of time. They are usually not goods meant to be used only once and this may justify why there are capital goods –such as machinery –that cost huge sums of money to acquire. Although expensive to purchase, some capital goods are perennial in nature as they can be used for many years before they eventually pack up.

Tangibility, on the other hand, is a concept implying that capital goods are usually physical assets with actual or approximate monetary values. Put simply, capital goods can not only be seen or touched but also be evaluated in monetary terms.

Examples of Capital Goods

Since capital goods are considered (tangible) assets intended for the production of other items, common examples of capital goods are machinery, buildings, computers, tools, etc.

Who Are the Owners of Capital Goods?

Generally, capital goods can be owned by anyone ranging from the government down to businesses, individuals and households. One important thing to note however is that most times, owners of capital goods are persons, groups, companies, etc., considered as having high purchasing power and great foresight.

What Can Capital Goods Be Used for?

Primarily, capital goods are useful for production purposes. They are suitable for investment purposes where the ultimate intent is wealth accumulation. This is because fixed assets, which are a common category of capital goods, are usually required in the business of production. Investing in such fixed assets as land, buildings and machinery can therefore yield returns in the form of money received for renting out the assets.

What Is the Average Salary of Professionals in the Capital Goods Industry?

Just like every other industry or employment sector, the capital goods industry tends to have varying salary figures which are commonly influenced by location, years of experience, and job title. It is for this reason that a particular capital goods worker in one state may earn pretty above their counterpart in another state.

According to the data provided by Indeed, a capital goods worker in New York City, with the job title of sales representative and less than five-year experience, had an average annual salary of $95,000 in 2017. However, their counterpart in the Midwest with the job title of engineer and a similar amount of experience had an average salary of $54,000.

Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)’ projections, the average (annual) salary of capital goods workers would reach $84,460 by 2027. BLS also revealed that the average yearly salary of capital goods rose to $71,580, indicating a favourable remuneration status in the capital goods industry.

While one might not be able to arrive at a single average salary that cuts across all the job sectors where capital goods workers are found, it’s noteworthy that individual industries play a role in determining the salaries of their capital goods workers.

How Many Jobs Are Available in Capital Goods?

Reliable labour data shows that there are between 1 million and 2 million jobs in the capital goods industry. While this indicates that the industry boasts lots of job opportunities, it’s noteworthy that the majority of the available capital goods jobs are located in urban areas. Quite impressively, more than 2 million job positions in the capital goods industry are open to skilled individuals, leaving a meagre portion, about 200, 000 jobs, for labourers (unskilled individuals).

If you’re a skilled individual with certain requisite skills, you could benefit from the industry’s massive pool of job opportunities. You’ll especially be considered qualified for the industry’s job positions if you’re a professional in any of these areas: manufacturing, engineering, product design, marketing and advertising, and utility system installation.

Though youthful individuals are the demographic the capital goods industry favours most, the industry still largely caters to job seekers across various age brackets.

Highest-Paying Capital Goods Jobs and Their Respective Salaries

From the table above, it’s clear that Manufacturing Director, Credit Controller and Chief Risk Officer are the top three earners, with the average annual salaries of $210,000, $200,000 and $150,000 respectively.

Where to Find Capital Goods Jobs

Capital goods jobs are available in both private and public sectors. If you prefer to browse the Internet for hints on companies with positions for capital goods workers, it may interest you that Indeed, Monster and Linkedin and various other job-posting sites could prove helpful.

With that noted, some of the notable places where you can land capital goods jobs are public offices such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

If the private sector is your preferred employment sphere, you could secure a capital goods job with one of the numerous private companies with relevant job positions.

Conclusion

Without capital goods, the production of most consumer goods will prove futile. Particularly in the urban areas where industries and manufacturing companies are highly concentrated, capital goods have proven to be indispensable inputs.

With what you’ve read so far in this post, you should be able to figure out the job outlook of the capital goods industry. Most especially, we believe you’ve found this post useful for learning about the number of jobs that exist in the capital goods industry.