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Just out of high-school, I worked in a fiber-optic component assembly plant - wave-division multiplexers, optical circulators, etc. It was clean room, bunny sui

Just out of high-school, I worked in a fiber-optic component assembly plant - wave-division multiplexers, optical circulators, etc. It was clean room, bunny suit, microscope work for the most part. But it was also moderate-skill, repetitive work - they'd hire large cohorts and provide all the necessary training. If you could keep up with the quotas and QC, you were in and made a decent wage and there was some room for growth. If not, you were let go. Not the type of work I'd take a pay cut for these days, but for young me, it was a foot in the door, paid okay and provided great experience. Semiconductor plant jobs may not be as lucrative as SW engineering, but they are indeed jobs that pay alright for low to moderate skilled labour. And on-shoring of tech manufacturing seems like a good idea.

mensetmanusman 4y ago
This alludes to an important point. If the semiconductor manufacturers coming to the US could take advantage of the software skill sets for automation that exist in the US, it could really help people have less repetition in their job and make it more rewarding.
R0b0t1 4y ago
If the work is repetitive I'm not sure you can say it was good experience. Your time would have been better spent learning or creating, I assume. No reason to want your children to work.
- 0xbadc0de5 4y ago
  I'm not sure you're qualified to have an opinion on what I took away from my own experience or whether I'd want my children to have access to similar opportunities. For the record, I did say it was a good experience and I stand by that. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that the time I spent working construction and flipping burgers prior to that also had value. I think it's a mistake to assume that just because work is repetitive, that there is no opportunity for "learning and creating." I was creating things - fibre optic components. I was also learning things - all about the components and their manufacturing process. And yes, I hope my children have access to as broad a range of experience as I've had. I think there are many reasons to want your children to work - not least of which is the value it adds to society and the self-sufficiency it provides them.
  - R0b0t1 4y ago
    You don't think I'm qualified? Why? Because what I said made you feel bad for some reason? Well jackass, you're definitely not qualified, keep reading. Or maybe don't, because what people put in books must also be wrong because you're a special snowflake. Sigh. There's another conversation I had on here that went similar to this one. Basically, a guy was saying, "the tough road I took to get to my position is what made me who I am" which is perhaps literally true but also trash. There is always a way you could have gotten to where you are today, or indeed even a better place, with less hardship. If you rubbed a lamp and a genie asked if you wanted to change anything about your past, saying "no I'm perfectly happy with who I am today" is a brazen lie and about the stupidest thing you could do. You have no regrets? You don't want to be a better person? The hell is wrong with you? Likewise, why want hardship for your children just for the sake of hardship? They could learn without hardship just as well, though you may not be smart enough to figure out how.
    - 0xbadc0de5 4y ago
      For someone who claims to be such an expert on my subjective experiences, you seem to rely an awful lot on name-calling, straw-man arguments and assuming opinions I have not stated. Bravo.

mensetmanusman 4y ago

This alludes to an important point. If the semiconductor manufacturers coming to the US could take advantage of the software skill sets for automation that exist in the US, it could really help people have less repetition in their job and make it more rewarding.

R0b0t1 4y ago

If the work is repetitive I'm not sure you can say it was good experience. Your time would have been better spent learning or creating, I assume. No reason to want your children to work.

0xbadc0de5 4y ago
I'm not sure you're qualified to have an opinion on what I took away from my own experience or whether I'd want my children to have access to similar opportunities. For the record, I did say it was a good experience and I stand by that. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that the time I spent working construction and flipping burgers prior to that also had value. I think it's a mistake to assume that just because work is repetitive, that there is no opportunity for "learning and creating." I was creating things - fibre optic components. I was also learning things - all about the components and their manufacturing process. And yes, I hope my children have access to as broad a range of experience as I've had. I think there are many reasons to want your children to work - not least of which is the value it adds to society and the self-sufficiency it provides them.
- R0b0t1 4y ago
  You don't think I'm qualified? Why? Because what I said made you feel bad for some reason? Well jackass, you're definitely not qualified, keep reading. Or maybe don't, because what people put in books must also be wrong because you're a special snowflake. Sigh. There's another conversation I had on here that went similar to this one. Basically, a guy was saying, "the tough road I took to get to my position is what made me who I am" which is perhaps literally true but also trash. There is always a way you could have gotten to where you are today, or indeed even a better place, with less hardship. If you rubbed a lamp and a genie asked if you wanted to change anything about your past, saying "no I'm perfectly happy with who I am today" is a brazen lie and about the stupidest thing you could do. You have no regrets? You don't want to be a better person? The hell is wrong with you? Likewise, why want hardship for your children just for the sake of hardship? They could learn without hardship just as well, though you may not be smart enough to figure out how.
  - 0xbadc0de5 4y ago
    For someone who claims to be such an expert on my subjective experiences, you seem to rely an awful lot on name-calling, straw-man arguments and assuming opinions I have not stated. Bravo.