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The people who are excited over the return of factory jobs don't fully comprehend automation and robotics. Factory jobs will be there, but there will be far fewer factory jobs and they'll require more education. This is hard for people who worked on lines to imagine.
It's funny. I was in a factory in Pittsburgh last year that made ultrasonic meters. Were all of those workers I saw robots?
Well humans haven't been replaced entirely, but you can't deny they are being replaced as fast as the technology will permit.
Exactly. So with that knowledge in hand, why would any young person with a modicum of intelligence desire to try to pursue many of those automatable jobs as a career. It does not make sense, it is asking to be made obsolete halfway through your career and have to go start from scratch in something else. Not smart.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Unless you live in Hollywood many Americans of all ages, religions, races, and ethnicities work in factories. Today it's rarely heavy industry but instead warehouse environments. Where I live has seen a massive increase in warehouse jobs because we're home to the UPS world hub so stuff is getting shipped in and out to everywhere 24/7. If you take a laptop for repair in a San Francisco or Cape Cod area Best Guy / Geeksquad it is shipped here for repair. The largest Amazon warehouse in the USA is here. One industrial park near me is projected to add at least 20,000 new jobs in the next decade. The difference is today's industrial jobs are concentrated in metro areas with good air / rail / interstate / water access and often in states with low business states.
Many people forgot that office jobs can be just as vulnerable to outsourcing as blue collar jobs and as much mechanization as possible already exist and there's still things that must be done by humans. You can outsource people who read x rays but you can't outsource a plumber, car mechanic, or the guy delivering bread to the store. In my family the most successful Millennials are the ones without a college degree.
I live in an area that has a lot of factor work and "production" jobs. There are plenty of millenials who work those jobs and are very happy to get them.
I have 2 younger brothers who work in factories and my older brother does as well, he is not a millenial though.
Factory work is a good way to make a decent living; however, I'll note that many millenials, including many in my own family don't like to work in factories or they are too lazy to do the work or they are drug addicts (mostly cannabis) and so they usually either don't last long or don't get the job in the first place.
I'll note in my area most of the "good paying" manufacturers start out everyone on a temporary basis, due to the above. Over 70% of those who come in as temp workers end up quitting because, basically they are lazy or out of shape and cannot do factory work, which in many cases is very physically demanding. I do think a large amount of millenials are out of shape. I personally could not do a factory job IMO because I am also pretty physically lazy and out of shape for what you have to do.
My older brother works for an auto manufacturer and he says when he gets off of work that his entire body hurts for 5-6 hours and he has arthritis already and he is only 38 years old. He has worked in factories for about 15 years now and used to work in retail but went to factories because he didn't want to go to college (lazy academically) and he didn't like getting paid so little in retail.
My younger brothers, they do not want to work in factories forever; yet they are also lazy academically and don't really want to gt any higher education. Both have been to college though and one has an associates degree and is considering going back to get a 4 year degree. All of my brothers feel that manufacturing is not a good field to get into if you are just a general laborer like what they do. All of them get paid well though from $15-$30 an hour. But when they started out, they got minimum wage to do the same job via the temp service. Most of the people who get hired in at minimum wage or $9-$10 an hour working in these factories quit and those people are the ones you see complaining about there not being any "good jobs." You have to work a year to get "hired in" and make a good amount of money at most places and they are just too lazy to do that.
In addition, it is not a wise move to try to make a career in a field where your skill set is clearly increasingly being preformed by machines.
I am not sure I understand the fetishism of these factory jobs of yore either, they were not high skill jobs, they were not particularly fulfilling or intellectually stimulating jobs, and they were monotonous. The only thing they had going for them that put them beyond fast food was that a person with little to no education could perform them and maintain a low-to-middle class lifestyle and health coverage, where as in fast food they would basically be at poverty levels.
And if they were to come back now they wouldn't even be able to do that and remain competitive.
People got paid more to work them, were in unions, got perks of being in unions (benefits and vacation, along with retirement pensions and so forth).
So, what they miss isn't a factory. It's a steady job with retirement and benefits.
And, in the manufacturing sector, those line jobs that have that security aren't coming back.
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Exactly. So with that knowledge in hand, why would any young person with a modicum of intelligence desire to try to pursue many of those automatable jobs as a career. It does not make sense, it is asking to be made obsolete halfway through your career and have to go start from scratch in something else. Not smart.
So, should they become engineers, because there has never been software designed that performs engineering functions?
Should they become doctors, because there has never been technology that performs the functions of a doctor?
Maybe they should become pilots?
Maybe an accountant?
I guess we should not promote any jobs because technology.
So, what they miss isn't a factory. It's a steady job with retirement and benefits.
Right, and without having to go get a specialized education. Specialization is the key today, find something that you can do that very few people can and become an expert in it. We have many more people today competing for jobs than we had in those days and having no education and no specialized expertise is going to put you in the same pool of workers that staff fast food joints and car washes.
People got paid more to work them, were in unions, got perks of being in unions (benefits and vacation, along with retirement pensions and so forth).
So, what they miss isn't a factory. It's a steady job with retirement and benefits.
And, in the manufacturing sector, those line jobs that have that security aren't coming back.
Technology creep is a necessary response to mandates such as increased wages, sick pay, maternity leave, hiring requirements, unionization,etc.
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Unless you live in Hollywood many Americans of all ages, religions, races, and ethnicities work in factories. Today it's rarely heavy industry but instead warehouse environments. Where I live has seen a massive increase in warehouse jobs because we're home to the UPS world hub so stuff is getting shipped in and out to everywhere 24/7. If you take a laptop for repair in a San Francisco or Cape Cod area Best Guy / Geeksquad it is shipped here for repair. The largest Amazon warehouse in the USA is here. One industrial park near me is projected to add at least 20,000 new jobs in the next decade. The difference is today's industrial jobs are concentrated in metro areas with good air / rail / interstate / water access and often in states with low business states.
Many people forgot that office jobs can be just as vulnerable to outsourcing as blue collar jobs and as much mechanization as possible already exist and there's still things that must be done by humans. You can outsource people who read x rays but you can't outsource a plumber, car mechanic, or the guy delivering bread to the store. In my family the most successful Millennials are the ones without a college degree.
This bold is the case for my family as well. Those of us with basically any degree are doing better financially than those who work in factories. I also agree on the "office jobs" portion in that many lower level clerical positions are just as "iffy" in regards to long term employment than manufacturing/factories. Only difference is if the office worker has a degree and learns something about the business they can be more assured IMO of a promotion. It is harder to go further up the ladder in manufacturing/factories because you are so tired after working, that you may not be able to go back to school and dedicate yourself to furthering your education. I know that has been an issue for my family members who do want to get additional education. Many of them quit the factor work and got certs and licenses for more stable work like drivers like you mentioned, building trades, auto mechanics/body shop, and others.
In Ohio where I live we also have a lot of distribution hubs with warehouse positions due to the factors you site above (good air/rail/interstate/water access).
I also agree that all types of Americans work in factories. We have black, white, hispanic, Asian, and native Americans and all sorts of mixed ethinicities in our factories here.
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