3w ago

Why aren't Americans filling the manufacturing jobs we already have?

www.npr.org /sections/planet-money/2025/05/13/g-s1-66112/why-arent-americans-filling-the-manufacturing-jobs-we-already-have

31 comments

Pay more.
Manufacturing jobs are damn boring. Having worked at a manufacturer (as the IT guy). Workers on the floor spend 8 hours a day doing the same task all day. It's boring af.
So have been working the same job for decades, but moving up? Not happening. You could be a manager and get a few dollars more an hour.
You can get a factory job easy. Stay clean and show up. You just won't be rolling in money.
- I think there is something of a concerted effort to lionize these boring jobs that used to support a family.
  It is amazing how many country / blue grass songs are about coal mining.
  The thing the wealthy don’t seem to understand is that what made these jobs worth identifying with was that they could support a family. People were proud to provide a good life for their loved ones.
  They are hoping they can get people to identify with the jobs, be proud of them, without having to hold up their end of the bargain.
  The entire world right now seems to be the wealthiest people going “can’t I have a little bit more though?”
  
  I think some of lionization may have roots in the need to recognize and legitimize those professions as a prerequisite for unionization, and to recognize post hoc the men and women who struggled to unionize and get respect in the form of reasonable working conditions and pay.
  Coal mining has almost never been enough to support a family, though it was regular work. Regular work is a thing of the past in Appalachia.
  
  A lot of those jobs were retail and clerical. With pension instead of scam my 401k tied to the stock market that benefited the rich the most. And insurance that covered vision and dental s a straight 80/20 no dumb tricks. And paid life, death and dismemberment and if fortunate, paid lunch. At 90+ percent highest income by corporate and individual income tax.
- Yeah, back in the day, you didn't need to be a manager to generate upward mobility. You could work 40 hours a week and pay for a house, a car, and a college education without going into debt.
- It's hard on the body and over time, the toll is phenomenal. We've lived large on the low wage ~~withers~~ workers overseas we (collectively speaking) disdain.
  
  This is the real truth and glad to see there are so many with this degree of introspection.

31 comments