Is there any manufacturing in Des Moines? (Iowa City, Ames: jobs, high school)

[zz4guy]

Originally Posted by Steve_W

I don't mean to try to sum up an entire thread with one post but, why in the hell would manufacturing, in a decade of outsourcing be such a solid gauge of economic prominence? It's there one day and gone the next.

I would much rather be in finance, agriculture and most of all, insurance.

I guess there isn't any manufacturing in Omaha either.

[pepe1]

Originally Posted by El Rhino

Being an engineer is probably a different case, I know those guys pull in some big bucks (usually). I know there's some other white collar professions that start off high paying, but not for your average kid fresh out of college with a general degree in the business realm. I've heard that a lot of jobs like this start off in the low 20's to MAYBE the 40's. A decent union labor job will put you ahead of that.

I wish engineers were paid as well as people think. You would be very surprised at how very "average" a typical engineer is paid...

[El Rhino]

I had a friend who has an aerospace engineering degree from UNO or Kansas or something and works at a small firm in Western Nebraska. I know he doesn't make much at all. Actually, I'm pretty sure I make more than he does.

I guess construction engineering is a good one to go into as far as pay.

Edit: the firm he works for has nothing to do with aerospace. If I remember right, they do something with traffic lights or something like that.

[mfrerkes]

I work at the Firestone plant and I made more than virtually everyone I know around my age with a college degree. Hell, a lot of people I know with college degrees are doing something way outside the realm of what they went to school for, like working retail or an entry level position at Wells Fargo that you could've gotten with a high school diploma and/or an AA in Business. I know if I were to get a general business degree and get a job with it, odds are I would take a very sharp pay cut (anywhere from 20-50% based on what I've read), plus all the money spent on school and the pressures of living a white collar lifestyle as opposed to blue collar.

I'm not knocking education, I'm going to school part time myself.

Your situation is exactly what I was talking about. Manufacturing/industrial jobs like the one you have with Firestone helped build a solid middle-class in this country. During the last 20-30 years there has been a rapid erosion in that employment sector, and the jobs replacing them are white-collar/service positions which, on average, don't pay nearly as well.

It's unfortunate that those blue-collar jobs now seem lost forever. During the 50s and 60s, America demonstrated how beautifully the free-market system works for everyone when it is implemented with a sense of fairness. Today, it seems the market mentality has taken on a "Law of the Jungle" tone. That mostly explains why the ranks of the middle class have thinned dramatically.

[Steve_W]

Originally Posted by mfrerkes

Your situation is exactly what I was talking about. Manufacturing/industrial jobs like the one you have with Firestone helped build a solid middle-class in this country. During the last 20-30 years there has been a rapid erosion in that employment sector, and the jobs replacing them are white-collar/service positions which, on average, don't pay nearly as well.

It's unfortunate that those blue-collar jobs now seem lost forever. During the 50s and 60s, America demonstrated how beautifully the free-market system works for everyone when it is implemented with a sense of fairness. Today, it seems the market mentality has taken on a "Law of the Jungle" tone. That mostly explains why the ranks of the middle class have thinned dramatically.

As the standard of living in China goes up I think some of the jobs will come back. Especially with all the migrants these days.

[zz4guy]

Engineering is in major demand in this country because there are so few of them. Even though things are made off shore they still need engineers to design stuff here in the US.

They'll scoot stuff offshore like widget making to China, but advanced manufacturing is best suited for a place like the midwest with an educated, hard working middle class.

I wouldn't settle for a low paying engineering job. The company I work for starts at $55k plus $5k bonus every year and I am well over $60k base now with only 4 years experience.

The great thing about manufacturing is it creates demand for a lot of different industries including financial services, engineering, transportation, logistics, high tech, and all the support services.

[pepe1]

Originally Posted by zz4guy

I wouldn't settle for a low paying engineering job. The company I work for starts at $55k plus $5k bonus every year and I am well over $60k base now with only 4 years experience.

Is that witha 2-year or 4-year degree?

[zz4guy]

Originally Posted by pepe1

Is that witha 2-year or 4-year degree?

4 year BSEE degree.

A lot of EE techs (2 year) make $50-$60k after they have a few years of experience behind them.

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by mfrerkes

It's unfortunate that those blue-collar jobs now seem lost forever. During the 50s and 60s, America demonstrated how beautifully the free-market system works for everyone when it is implemented with a sense of fairness. Today, it seems the market mentality has taken on a "Law of the Jungle" tone. That mostly explains why the ranks of the middle class have thinned dramatically.

A lot of these jobs are gone and worse, a lot of the wages are gone. Some industries are still here to an extent, just with substancially lower wages. It's no wonder why someone might choose to work at Best Buy for just a dollar or two less per hour than working in a dirty factory, warehouse, slaughterhouse or so on.

As far as I know, the rubber industry is about the only non-high tech industry that is still holding on in the US. At the plant I work at, we still make products that get sold overseas. I'm sure that will change as they keep building plants in South America and China.

[Chris19]

Originally Posted by zz4guy

Engineering is in major demand in this country because there are so few of them. Even though things are made off shore they still need engineers to design stuff here in the US.

They'll scoot stuff offshore like widget making to China, but advanced manufacturing is best suited for a place like the midwest with an educated, hard working middle class.

I wouldn't settle for a low paying engineering job. The company I work for starts at $55k plus $5k bonus every year and I am well over $60k base now with only 4 years experience.

The great thing about manufacturing is it creates demand for a lot of different industries including financial services, engineering, transportation, logistics, high tech, and all the support services.

I agree with the second and last paragraphs. Manufacturing is good for the economy and is a very important part of the economy and economic growth in the US. I think that overbearing government regulations, NIMBY (not in my backyard), and shortsighted corporate mentality exhibited by executives has hurt our manufacturing industry and the middle class. I think that manufacturing can make a comeback, but we as Midwesterners and Amercians need to find our niche and offer something that others may not offer (quality or something unique). Engineering is a good path for Amercia to go also, but we need to improve the interest in the area along with the math and sciences in our K-12 schools and higher education institutions.