MakerBot Will Outsource Sunset Park Jobs to China: Report

Image courtesy of Industry City

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — MakerBot is moving its manufacturing operations from Industry City in Sunset Park to China, the tech blog Technical.ly Brooklyn reported Tuesday.

In a press release, MakerBot announced that in order to cut costs, it had decided to hand manufacturing duties over to Jabil, a New York-based company with factories all over the world, including many in China.

MakerBot said it plans to transition all production of its famous 3D printers to Jabil "in the coming months."

The change "means that we will have to part with some of our talented and hard working colleagues at our factory," the statement said.

In 2010, one of Jabil's factories in China came under fire for allegedly housing underpaid workers in "prison-like" sweatshop conditions.

MakerBot opened a 17,000-square-foot manufacturing center in Industry City in July 2015.

"The phrase 'Made in Brooklyn' will continue to be inscribed on the back of MakerBot Replicator 3D Printers for years to come," MakerBot's public-relations team boasted at the time.

The company has not yet revealed exactly how many Sunset Park jobs will be lost due to overseas outsourcing. An Industry City spokeswoman said she didn't have a layoff estimate, either.

MakerBot spokesman Johan Broer couldn't immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

However, Broer told Technical.ly that some of MakerBot's office employees — legal reps, marketers, etc. — will remain at the company's headquarters in the MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn.

In response to the news, Industry City CEO Andrew Kimball released the following statement:

“The recent uptick in manufacturing in the region — represented at Industry City by the fact that we’ve leased more than 1 million square feet of space to manufacturers since 2013 — doesn’t negate the fact that the sector’s fragility is real, and that we need to re-double our efforts to create good-paying jobs for New Yorkers with various skill sets. MakerBot’s decision underscores this reality.”

Editor's Note: This post has been updated for clarity.