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Two figures which stand out for me are: (1) The disappearance of factory jobs (machine operator, assembler of electrical equipment). The overseas flight of US

by csense 11y ago

Two figures which stand out for me are: (1) The disappearance of factory jobs (machine operator, assembler of electrical equipment). The overseas flight of US manufacturing as a consequence of free trade agreements is real; the causes, consequences, and whether it's good or bad is a topic for another post. (2) How common truck drivers are. I realized some years ago that it's one of the few jobs left that lets people earn a decent income without much education. Also, the job is a prime candidate to be replaced by automation (self driving vehicles) and the economic displacement of all sorts of driving jobs could possibly lead to social/political turmoil.

mseebach 11y ago
Yeah, we're barely out of the secretaries revolt, and now this.
HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
1) The disappearance of factory jobs has less to do with "overseas flight" and far more to do with automation. In years past, even a small manufacturer would have one machine operator per machine. These days a single CNC machine can outperform a roomful of manual machines and only require a single operator. 2) Living in MN, I was surprised by truck driver being on top since I only know one actual OTR driver. However, this is a very agricultural state, and I suspect that the majority those truck drivers are farmers who make most of their money driving trucks commercially. A lot of farmers need a CDL by necessity.
- djrogers 11y ago
  >I suspect that the majority those truck drivers are farmers who make most of their money driving trucks commercially It's even more simple than that - the long description is "Truck, delivery, and tractor drivers", a category it wouldn't take much imagination to stick a lot of agricultural employees in.
- mtberatwork 11y ago
  > The disappearance of factory jobs has less to do with "overseas flight" and far more to do with automation. Do you have any data on this? Personally I would lean more towards poor trade policies and imbalances but would be curious to see some numbers on automation.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
    On hand data, no. My "data" comes from having seen this topic beaten to death and from spending a lot of time on manufacturing forums populated by actual manufacturing business owners and from knowing people who have owned manufacturing businesses. I'd suggest google, but that sounds rude.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
      Anecdote: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/01/where-did-all-the-workers-go-60-years-of-economic-change-in-1-graph/252018/ http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/01/where-di... Relevant quote "I don't want to leave you with a facile explanation, but for the purposes of space, I think it's acceptable to say that as manufacturing and agriculture got more efficient, they required fewer American workers, "
  - mywittyname 11y ago
    Best to look up the GDP figures for the manufacturing sector. Essentially, the US is #2 in manufacturing by a huge margin, while employing a fraction of the workers of China, #1.
    - wnissen 11y ago
      Correct. China makes a lot of stuff, to be sure, but most of it's pretty low value, like toys and raw materials. The iPhones are actually the exception, statistically. The US still makes just as much stuff as it ever did, just with far, far fewer people.
      - 11y ago
- mikestew 11y ago
  Living in MN, I was surprised by truck driver being on top since I only know one actual OTR driver. "Truck driver" covers a lot more than OTR. The guy that drives the Budweiser truck to your local grocery store. The Pepsi truck driver that restocks your local 7-11. I dunno, does "Snap-On truck driver" count, even though he's really a small business person selling tools to professional mechanics? UPS driver falls into that category, I'll bet. Friend of mine used to own his own dump truck, hauling for construction jobs. And so on.
samstave 11y ago
>Also, the job is a prime candidate to be replaced by automation (self driving vehicles) I'd be willing to bet my soul to the devil that this is where the long con is in the automation deal. The first trillionaire in commerce is going to be the entity that owns this. "It puts the lotion in the basket, and it drives itself to the appropriate shop"

by csense 11y ago

mseebach 11y ago

Yeah, we're barely out of the secretaries revolt, and now this.

HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago

1) The disappearance of factory jobs has less to do with "overseas flight" and far more to do with automation. In years past, even a small manufacturer would have one machine operator per machine. These days a single CNC machine can outperform a roomful of manual machines and only require a single operator. 2) Living in MN, I was surprised by truck driver being on top since I only know one actual OTR driver. However, this is a very agricultural state, and I suspect that the majority those truck drivers are farmers who make most of their money driving trucks commercially. A lot of farmers need a CDL by necessity.

djrogers 11y ago
>I suspect that the majority those truck drivers are farmers who make most of their money driving trucks commercially It's even more simple than that - the long description is "Truck, delivery, and tractor drivers", a category it wouldn't take much imagination to stick a lot of agricultural employees in.
mtberatwork 11y ago
> The disappearance of factory jobs has less to do with "overseas flight" and far more to do with automation. Do you have any data on this? Personally I would lean more towards poor trade policies and imbalances but would be curious to see some numbers on automation.
- HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
  On hand data, no. My "data" comes from having seen this topic beaten to death and from spending a lot of time on manufacturing forums populated by actual manufacturing business owners and from knowing people who have owned manufacturing businesses. I'd suggest google, but that sounds rude.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
    Anecdote: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/01/where-did-all-the-workers-go-60-years-of-economic-change-in-1-graph/252018/ http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/01/where-di... Relevant quote "I don't want to leave you with a facile explanation, but for the purposes of space, I think it's acceptable to say that as manufacturing and agriculture got more efficient, they required fewer American workers, "
- mywittyname 11y ago
  Best to look up the GDP figures for the manufacturing sector. Essentially, the US is #2 in manufacturing by a huge margin, while employing a fraction of the workers of China, #1.
  - wnissen 11y ago
    Correct. China makes a lot of stuff, to be sure, but most of it's pretty low value, like toys and raw materials. The iPhones are actually the exception, statistically. The US still makes just as much stuff as it ever did, just with far, far fewer people.
    - 11y ago
mikestew 11y ago
Living in MN, I was surprised by truck driver being on top since I only know one actual OTR driver. "Truck driver" covers a lot more than OTR. The guy that drives the Budweiser truck to your local grocery store. The Pepsi truck driver that restocks your local 7-11. I dunno, does "Snap-On truck driver" count, even though he's really a small business person selling tools to professional mechanics? UPS driver falls into that category, I'll bet. Friend of mine used to own his own dump truck, hauling for construction jobs. And so on.

samstave 11y ago

>Also, the job is a prime candidate to be replaced by automation (self driving vehicles) I'd be willing to bet my soul to the devil that this is where the long con is in the automation deal. The first trillionaire in commerce is going to be the entity that owns this. "It puts the lotion in the basket, and it drives itself to the appropriate shop"