Are Today’s Young Workers Different from Their Parents?

A lot of our parents worked in manufacturing. But do young people of nowadays work as their parents used to?

Today, students might find manufacturing careers boring and outdated but we can’t dispute the fact that they come with a whole lot of benefits. Over the years manufacturing has featured as one of the favorite high school student jobs. However, this is not the case anymore. High school students no longer find the need to work in manufacturing or advance their manufacturing career. They prefer looking for jobs in other fields, for instance, SEO, IT, writing etc. as they find manufacturing boring and outdated. In fact, research has it that by the year 2025, manufacturing industries will have close to 2 million vacant positions due to a gap in skills. Such industries and schools are therefore trying so hard to teach and get these students to love these jobs.

Why Students Opt for Other Jobs?

1. They want to work in a clean high-technology environment Many students view manufacturing plants as a dirty and dangerous working environment. They also identify these places with low skill labourers who do back breaking work. This notion is far-fetched as in the present day, manufacturing is fully automated and requires high skilled employees who can maintain and operate high tech equipment.
2. They find factory work is depressing It may not be complicated and stressful but high school students find manufacturing depressing due to the monotony of repeating the same job over and over again while being surrounded by machines they cannot communicate to.
3. They prefer white collar jobs Many students look at manufacturing as only a blue collar job. They would rather go for a white collar job where they would sit in an office operating a computer than perform manual labour. They view a manufacturing as a job that has lower educational requirements where they will need to engage in hard labor. However, this is not the case. Many types of manufacturing industries have several white collar jobs as they have the blue collar ones. For instance, we have design engineering, sales and marketing, production control and general management jobs that qualify as high school student jobs.
4. Influence from parents, teachers and counselors Most parents have not accepted working in manufacturing industries as a suitable career goal for their kids therefore they advise them against it. Despite there being several manufacturing job opportunities, parents will advise their kids to get white collar jobs. They would want their kids to go to college as they believe a college degree will provide a better life. Teachers and counselors on the other hand see manufacturing as a dead career. This is due to reports of industries closure and outsourcing. Since they are in a position to recommend a career for students, they wouldn’t suggest manufacturing.
5. Manufacturing needs advanced technical training This is one of the biggest problem in trying to convince students to consider manufacturing as a career. Not all students will be willing to undergo advanced training as this will mean sitting in a class for longer hours and sacrificing their free time.

Is Manufacturing Really Boring? Boring is relative. It all depends with a person. Factory work can be boring if you are not patient with time; which most students aren’t. To make it more fun, you should barely look at the time, engage with your colleagues and work more. The more you work the faster the time moves and before you realize it the day will have ended.

Additionally, manufacturing industries are different depending on what they deal with. Students may find such work boring if that is what they chose the wrong career that does not have growth opportunities. Since a student has a young mind, they would prefer to go for positions where they are challenged to improve their skills and are open to opportunities. If they don’t get that that’s when they consider it boring. They also need to work with a competent management team that will help them advance their skills.

What are the Benefits of Manufacturing?

1. Money and remunerations Students know manufacturing jobs that pay well for instance, an electrician. Skilled students can therefore have the advantage of high entry level earnings. They may also get a chance to be recruited into an advanced technical training programs where they will also be entitled to wages and an industry certification award.
2. Manufacturing is a sustaining career Students should understand that if you have the right skills, factory work is just a career as any other which can sustain you living. It has job security measures for employees and one may be eligible for scholarships or internships where they get help to pay for their training and education.
3. Occupational class credits Acquiring a degree in other subjects like psychology and history may not land most students jobs.

However, a skill training and a career-oriented course like manufacturing could. Apart from theoretical knowledge, students also require practical knowledge which they will be credited for. Such skills will land them white collar jobs in manufacturing. Conclusion Students should understand what potential a manufacturing career has. For one, they could one day own and operate their own firms. It is one of the high school student jobs that will expose them to diverse skills that are applicable in other fields. It is therefore ideal that they invest their time and resources in factory work and take it as any other career.