"Industrial Athletes" (apply, employers, jobs, career)

[2nd trick op]

The term "industrial athlete" has apparently been in use for a while -- an outgrowth of the concept of "sports medicine", and the recognition that some jobs place stronger, and more directly-physical demands upon the jobholder. But today marked the first time I'd actually seen the term used in reference to a job posting.

It might be noted here that there are identifiable imbalances which lie behind the recent emergence of more-physical work in a post-industrial economy. Entrepreneurs who conduct business over greater distances and/or international borders aren't as likely to readily identify weaknesses in the bargain until problems actually come to the surface, and by then, it might take a while to get out of a disadvantage within a contract. But I'm digressing; let's move on to the case in point.

Eclipse Advantage is an emerging enterprise which is, in its own words "an internationally recognized, managed on-site service company that provides outsourced distribution center services supported by productivity standards and customizable technology solutions".

And what this amounts to, in plain and blunt language, is that the company seeks primarily to recruit for employers for whom intense physical input is the primary criterion for hiring and advancement.

Reviews of the company on both Indeed and Glassdoor paint a picture of an impartial, but highly- and near-exclusively-physical work environment. I've spotted recruiting flyers in local college gymnasiums, for example. Pay, however, does start at $15.50 per hour, which should quiet just about anyone with minimum-wage concerns.

And it might also be noted, that since upper-body strength -- a standard often invoked for high-demand occupations such as firefighting -- is not evenly distributed between the sexes, this trend is not likely to be well-received among militant feminists.

Let me emphasize, in closing, that I'm also familiar with a similar situation "from the inside"; I worked at Amazon Fulfillment, which has a similar policy of high demands, (but a wider variety of options and career paths) for almost four years, starting at the age of 61, but the disparity seems about to escalate to a new level.

And I doubt that the generation that coined the term "Special Snowflake" will show much enthusiasm for these conditions, or be encouraged to apply subject to them.