This thread got kind of long, but it was interesting. I teach welding and
machining at a vocational school near Roanoke, VA and train high school kids
for jobs, many of which should be found in manufacturing. True, our
manufacturing base has eroded to the point where I have to educate kids in
what a machine shop is! When I was a kid (10-12 years old) I had never seen
a machine shop, but just by listening to my dad talk while he tinkered I
knew what they did. Today, at least among the kids I work with, there is no
family memory of someone being a machinist or industrial mechanic. They sure
do know what MTV is though, and can play the hell out of a video game! Are
we looking at this thing backwards? Have the jobs followed the labor? I
struggle to get kids interested in this field, particularly the best and
brightest who would make good engineers. The angle I take with most of the
kids now is that they need to learn everything they can, be competent in as
many technologies as they can, have good people skills, and learn to be
professional. That is the best job security. While they won't spend 30 years
working on the same line and retire with a fat pension, they should be able
to live comfortably and not be chronically unemployed. And there will always
be room for the man in this country that can repair anything, as well as be
a craftsman with an artistic flair. Just my dos centavos.
Bruce