SIC 2326 Men's and Boys' Work Clothing

Contenidos

• NAICS CODE(S).
• INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT.
• ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE.
• BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT.
• CURRENT CONDITIONS.
• WORKFORCE.
• FURTHER READING.

SIC 2326

This category includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing men's and boys' work shirts, workpants (excluding jeans and dungarees), other work clothing, and washable service apparel. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing separate trousers and slacks (including jeans and dungarees) are classified in SIC 2325: Men's and Boys' Separate Trousers and Slacks.

NAICS CODE(S)

315211

Men's and Boys' Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors

315225

Men's and Boys' Cut and Sew Work Clothing Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Unlike other apparel industries, the men's and boys' work clothing industry has remained relatively immune from the deluge of imports wreaking havoc on the domestic markets of their apparel counterparts. On the work wear industry's input side, however, imports are playing an important role as more companies turn to lower labor and material costs in order to reverse the long-term slide in profit margins. To this end the outsourcing of work formerly performed within establishments to contractors outside U.S. borders has become an established trend.

One major demand-side development, anticipated to fill the void left by the falloff in industrial and agricultural markets, is the ongoing structural shift toward a service-based economy. Such a movement carries with it the potential for opening up vast areas of untapped demand for washable nontailored uniforms in health care facilities, personal care services, fast food chains, and other food preparation and service institutions. Viewed as a strategy to build customer recognition and loyalty, the wearing of corporate uniforms had already become an established trend among some airlines, banks, fitness centers, retail chain stores, and major hotels by the turn of the twenty-first century.

The men's and boys' work clothing industry also got a boost from a growing interest in work wear as fashion. Brands such as Carhartt and Dickie's picked up on this trend and began marketing overalls, jackets, shirts, and workpants to the public as fashion wear. The industry also strove to enhance sales with more functionality in work clothing (e.g., features to extend their useful life, deflect UV rays, wick away moisture, retain color, and help promote the company image).

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

The largest concentrations of the industry's establishments were located in the East South Central, West South Central, and South Atlantic regions of the United States.

According to the 2002 U.S. Economic Census, less than 150 U.S. establishments were involved in the manufacture of men's and boys' work clothing. Total product shipments were valued at $4.5 billion in 2002. Although the value of production showed some recovery for the industry, employment declined from 19,042 in 2000 to 12,883 in 2002.

Data available indicated that the primary materials consumed by the men's and boys' work clothing industry, when ranked by cost, were: materials, parts, containers, and supplies; broadwoven fabrics; and knit fabrics. The primary sources of input supply were from imports, broadwoven fabric mills, apparel made from purchased materials, and knit fabric mills. For the same two years, the share of the industry's total output disaggregated by its major product category indicated that men's and boys' work shirts accounted for 23.5 percent; men's and boys' work clothing and washable service apparel registered 58.3 percent; contract and commission work on men's and boys' work clothing in general was 9.5 percent; and men's and boys' work clothing not specified by any kind accounted for 8.7 percent.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

In a less spectacular manner, the ready-to-wear work clothes industry followed the historical trajectory of the more colorful men's apparel industry. With the onset of the industrial era in the early nineteenth century spurring the transformation from rural to urban life, the demand for working apparel soon surpassed the production of custom tailors...