Scholars and policy makers frame the debate on labour market polarisation by emphasising the role of key drivers such as international trade and of technological change. The present paper explores these themes from a different perspective and inquires whether de-routinisation has harmed local innovation capacity. Our empirical study builds on the literature on learning-by-doing and incremental innovation and focuses on advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) in US Metropolitan Statistical Areas over the period 1990–2012. Results provide support to the hypothesis that de-routinisation is associated with a generalised decline of local innovation performance, particularly in AMTs.