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> “The modern factory job is a mid-tech job” No it is not. Anyone could work a factory job. The least intelligent, least motivated people could punch a clock

> “The modern factory job is a mid-tech job” No it is not. Anyone could work a factory job. The least intelligent, least motivated people could punch a clock and earn a decent living tightening the same bolt a thousand times a day, all day long. At best, mid-tech jobs are like modern clerking jobs, but even that's pushing it. The modern factory job is fast-food, and the lack of associated pay and benefits is a major problem. Too many people are simply not smart enough to be programmers.

AlotOfReading 9y ago
Some factory jobs are that repetitive, but most factories are increasingly automated and the skills needed to maintain that automation are every bit as technical as programming.
- briandear 9y ago
  Yes but the article wasn’t talking about modern factory jobs.. it suggested that mid-tech is equivalent to the factory jobs of yesteryear — which were repetitive and not necessarily requiring superior intellect (relatively speaking.)
lsc 9y ago
>Anyone could work a factory job. The least intelligent, least motivated people could punch a clock and earn a decent living tightening the same bolt a thousand times a day, all day long. I don't have personal experience as a '50s factory worker, but I do have some experience assembling things and working on cars. I doubt this description of factory work being completely brainless. If you've ever tried to watch someone who isn't mechanically inclined assemble anything, you can see that there is a skill in fitting things together. Even if your job is to tighten that same bolt every day, you've still gotta figure out how to properly torque it; too loose and the bolt comes out, too tight and you shear the goddamn thing off. Use one of those old style torque wrenches and you're gonna be way slower than the next guy.
- brandonmenc 9y ago
  Low-level factory jobs really aren't that complicated. You can take a person off the street and have them pressing the "go" button on an injection molder within minutes.
  - iaw 9y ago
    There seems to be a level of arrogance coming across in your descriptions of "Low-level factory jobs." Having spent time in both worlds I have to say that your assessment of the skill and devotion required to work in those positions in inaccurate at best. Insulting at worst.
    - brandonmenc 9y ago
      I have actually worked these jobs. When I was a teenager I had temp jobs where I was literally bussed into a plastics factory, given a few minutes of instruction, and put on the shop floor to press a button on an injection molder. No "skill" or "devotion" required. Just a warm body.
      - iaw 9y ago
        There is a distinction between working a temp position and people that worked in factories for a career. I'd argue that temp positions will bias away from skill and devotion by the nature of position undermining your anecdote. It's like saying you worked as a fry cook at McDonald's for a day so you understand the in's and out's of all restaurant workers.
        brandonmenc 9y ago
        > It's like saying you worked as a fry cook at McDonald's for a day so you understand the in's and out's of all restaurant workers. Based on a quick search, in the U.S. there's something like 5-6 million restaurant workers, and nearly 4 million of them are fast food workers, so a fry cook at McDonald's can say they understand the ins and outs of the majority of restaurant workers. Which, is my point. Most factory jobs are not skilled in the sense that programming is, and the least-skilled tech job is still more complicated and difficult than the least-skilled factory job - meaning, tech jobs are not the new factory jobs, because by definition fewer people are able to work them.

AlotOfReading 9y ago

Some factory jobs are that repetitive, but most factories are increasingly automated and the skills needed to maintain that automation are every bit as technical as programming.

briandear 9y ago
Yes but the article wasn’t talking about modern factory jobs.. it suggested that mid-tech is equivalent to the factory jobs of yesteryear — which were repetitive and not necessarily requiring superior intellect (relatively speaking.)

lsc 9y ago

>Anyone could work a factory job. The least intelligent, least motivated people could punch a clock and earn a decent living tightening the same bolt a thousand times a day, all day long. I don't have personal experience as a '50s factory worker, but I do have some experience assembling things and working on cars. I doubt this description of factory work being completely brainless. If you've ever tried to watch someone who isn't mechanically inclined assemble anything, you can see that there is a skill in fitting things together. Even if your job is to tighten that same bolt every day, you've still gotta figure out how to properly torque it; too loose and the bolt comes out, too tight and you shear the goddamn thing off. Use one of those old style torque wrenches and you're gonna be way slower than the next guy.

brandonmenc 9y ago
Low-level factory jobs really aren't that complicated. You can take a person off the street and have them pressing the "go" button on an injection molder within minutes.
- iaw 9y ago
  There seems to be a level of arrogance coming across in your descriptions of "Low-level factory jobs." Having spent time in both worlds I have to say that your assessment of the skill and devotion required to work in those positions in inaccurate at best. Insulting at worst.
  - brandonmenc 9y ago
    I have actually worked these jobs. When I was a teenager I had temp jobs where I was literally bussed into a plastics factory, given a few minutes of instruction, and put on the shop floor to press a button on an injection molder. No "skill" or "devotion" required. Just a warm body.
    - iaw 9y ago
      There is a distinction between working a temp position and people that worked in factories for a career. I'd argue that temp positions will bias away from skill and devotion by the nature of position undermining your anecdote. It's like saying you worked as a fry cook at McDonald's for a day so you understand the in's and out's of all restaurant workers.
      - brandonmenc 9y ago
        > It's like saying you worked as a fry cook at McDonald's for a day so you understand the in's and out's of all restaurant workers. Based on a quick search, in the U.S. there's something like 5-6 million restaurant workers, and nearly 4 million of them are fast food workers, so a fry cook at McDonald's can say they understand the ins and outs of the majority of restaurant workers. Which, is my point. Most factory jobs are not skilled in the sense that programming is, and the least-skilled tech job is still more complicated and difficult than the least-skilled factory job - meaning, tech jobs are not the new factory jobs, because by definition fewer people are able to work them.