"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...
An article in today's NYT...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/ma...l?ref=magazine

...finally gives some concrete answers to the question of what manufacturing
workers should be retraining for, if they're expecting to work in a growing
sector of the economy:

"Why do presidential candidates touting their concern for the economy pose
with factory workers rather than with ballet troupes? After all, the U.S. now
has more choreographers (16,340) than metal-casters (14,880), according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics. More people make their livings shuffling and
dealing cards in casinos (82,960) than running lathes (65,840), and there are
almost three times as many security guards (1,004,130) as machinists
(385,690). Whereas 30 percent of Americans worked in manufacturing in 1950,
fewer than 15 percent do now. The economy as politicians present it is a
folkloric thing."

So, the answer is clear: It's time to learn to dance or shuffle. Practice
those pirouettes, and always deal from the top of the deck, ya'll.

http://www.wikihow.com/Do-a-Pirouette

--
Ed Huntress


A manufacturing chicken/egg. Parallel pressure on manufacturing from
competition and unions create an atmosphere for increased automation and other
enhancement from technology. I can only draw from my own limited experience but
I think it's indicative. I know I've had to replace over 80% of my workforce in
the past 25 years with automation or outsourcing to suppliers with better
technology. I imagine most companies have had to do the same. The price of
automation keeps getting cheaper and cheaper and the cost of employees keeps
getting higher and higher. And, the quality of employee has continually
diminished. Nine of ten new applicants can't do simple math or read a tape
measure. The union has pushed wages and benefits way beyond reasonable. It's
amazing that I can easily justify a $40,000 budget for some little sub-system
that will eliminate a number of production man-hours because the pay-back is so
quick. The education system and disintegration of value systems is mostly to
blame in my opinion and corrupt, self-serving unions that force companies into
finding solutions that don't include union people. The unions have created
their own demise like a snake eating itself. As a result, all those jobs just
go away. Did you want fries with that?