Reading the signs and considering the future

At the McCook Gazette, we don’t give stock tips, and we only offer career advice where journalism is concerned—but sometimes, the writing on the wall is too big to ignore.

We’ve written extensively about Nebraska’s labor shortage, especially in healthcare, but the problem reaches far beyond nursing homes and sheriff’s departments. From classrooms to construction sites, from restaurants to manufacturing plants, the challenge is the same: there simply aren’t enough workers.

On paper, Nebraska looks healthy. Our unemployment rate is among the lowest in the country, but the real issue isn’t how many people are out of work—it’s how many people are willing and able to work at all. Twenty-five years ago, Nebraska’s labor force participation rate stood around 72 percent. Today, it’s closer to 68 percent. That small-sounding change represents a substantial drop in the number of active workers, even as the population in some areas of the state have grown. Aging residents, slower growth among younger demographics, and regional out-migration all contribute to a workforce that cannot keep up with demand.

This matters now more than ever, as national policy leans hard into tariffs–paused or not–and trade restrictions aimed at “bringing jobs back home.” The logic behind tariffs isn’t difficult to follow—reduce reliance on imports by making them more expensive, and domestic manufacturing becomes more attractive. Any armchair economist with a ruler and some graph paper can show how it works in theory.

What looks good in theory, however, doesn’t always hold up in practice. The truth is, many offshore business models are simply unworkable with U.S. Labor. Our workers will not, and should not, compete at that level. They won’t solder microchips or sew buttons onto clothing for $5 an hour, much less $5 a day. No tariff, no matter how carefully calculated, will change that.

That brings us to the crossroads we now face. If we truly want to reshore manufacturing—if we want to make more things in America—it won’t be done by recreating the old factories of the 1950s. It will be done with automation. Robots. Artificial intelligence. Not because we prefer machines over human beings, but because we simply don’t have enough people.

This is no longer a matter of futuristic speculation. The demand is already here, and it’s growing. Automation is not just an option; it’s the only scalable path forward. Whether you’re a business owner thinking about long-term investments, a student planning a career, or an investor watching your 401K, the same truth applies: keep an eye on robotics.

It is the next frontier—not in science fiction, but in payroll departments and production lines. As workforce gaps widen and pressure builds, automation will fill the space—not out of preference but out of necessity.

If you’re thinking seriously about the future, don’t overlook the inevitability of automation.