I graduated in 2011 and everyone was saying that there would be a huge shift towards UX. Much like manufacturing, all ID jobs were going to be shipped out to China in the next 5-10 years. Looking back, this statement was completely ridiculous and I don’t know how that guy could say that. Think about how difficult it is to communicate with overseas manufacturers regarding measurable things like tolerances and part quality. Then multiply that by the fact that ID uses a lot of subjective/trend-based/soft skills and it would just be a total nightmare.
While it is true that the UX field has grown exponentially in the last few years, it is certainly not true that ID is failing in any way.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, industrial design is set to grow about 3-4% year over year. That is considered slow growth. Just for some context, the average rate of growth is 4-7% in any given field. Fields like journalism are SHRINKING by about 10-15% per year, and fields like software engineering are growing at a staggering 15-20% per year.
I think that if you’re a recent ID graduate, things are not as easy as they have been in the last 10-15 years…but to be fair, for as long as I’ve known about the field, industrial design has never been very easy to break into. Even some very talented designer friends in my graduating class were not able to break into the field of ID. But they did end up becoming very good UX designers, and they probably make more money than most of us too (generally, UX pays about 20% more than ID).
Just like anything else, if you strive to create the highest quality of work, people will want to hire you. I constantly try to stay up to date on my skills in order to remain relevant in the field. When I first graduated, I struggled to find work. Over time as I built up my skills, network, and portfolio, things have gotten much easier.
Industrial design will always be a profession for as long as we still exist in our physical bodies.