Employers

There are approximately 111,300 workers employed in apparel manufacturing and 18,060 textile, apparel, and furnishings workers in the United States. Most textile production workers are employed either in mills that spin and weave gray goods, or in finishing plants, where gray goods are treated with processes such as dyeing and bleaching. Some textile companies combine these two stages of manufacturing under one roof.

Employment opportunities for textile manufacturing workers are concentrated in the southeastern states. Many of the jobs in this industry are located in North Carolina, California, and Georgia.

Starting Out

Most textile production workers obtain their jobs by employment postings through online agencies and newspapers or by applying directly to the personnel office of a textile plant. A new worker usually receives between a week and several months of on-the-job training, depending on the complexity of the job.

Graduates of textile technology programs in colleges and technical institutes may be informed about job openings through their schools career services office. They may be able to line up permanent positions before graduation. Sometimes students in technical programs are sponsored by a local textile company, and upon graduation, they go to work for the sponsoring company.

Production workers in textile manufacturing who become skilled machine operators may be promoted to positions in which they train new employees. Other workers can qualify for better jobs by learning additional machine-operating skills. Usually the workers with the best knowledge of machine operations are those who set up and prepare machines before production runs. Skilled workers who show that they have good judgment and leadership abilities may be promoted to supervisory positions, in charge of a bank of machines or a stage in the production process. Some companies offer continuing education opportunities to dedicated workers.

Laboratory workers may advance to supervisory positions in the lab. If their educational background includes such courses as industrial engineering and quality control, they may move up to management jobs where they plan and control production.

Talk to textile manufacturing workers about their careers. Ask them for advice on breaking into the field.  

Visit the following Web sites for job listings: 

• https://www.indeed.com/q-textile-jobs.html
• https://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs-textiles
• https://www.gettextilejobs.com

Join UNITE HERE to increase your chances of landing a job and receiving fair pay for your work.

Be willing to relocate. North Carolina, California, and Georgia are employment hubs for this industry.