Make American Tech great again. How can this be done?
This is the point of posting it here.
Manufacturing is now tech. If we bring back manufacturing where will we find the employees?
Tech is constantly changing. What Tech needs is workers who think logically, not emotionally. Workers who understand the concepts learned in geometry... concepts of axioms, hypothesis, theories and working for the unknown value.
Most kids (including chickified guys) have only learned that Math is their friend. That numbers can come in many attractive colors. That logic can hurt people’s feelings. So best to avoid it.
Coding is black or white. It either compiles or it does not. A compiler doesn’t take into account how much time you put into the code and that you missed a really good concert and that your cat is sick and that you really need some ME time. It’s never, ever going to be about you. All the compiler ever thinks about is itself.
I’ll have to disagree with you spintreebob. Over the past 5 years I’ve hired about a dozen grads straight out of college into manufacturing/regulatory turn-around situations. The role involved technical manufacturing process knowledge across a vast range of activity including manual and automated, electrical and mechanical, dirty and clean.
Yes, I hired 3-4 senior guys on the teams first. But talk about an energy surge - the companies and suppliers couldn’t keep up with my teams - they were getting the job done, pushing the boundaries, challenging, learning. They came up to speed so fast that I had people trying to take them from me in less than a year onboard to be part of design and other parts of the company.
The younger generation, despite all the negative news to the contrary, ARE able to do exactly what we (USA) need them to do - in many cases better than the older generation due to being more familiar with certain aspects of the tech.
Every team I’ve worked with cross-functionally that was underperforming has been due to micromanagement and the mantra of zero tolerance for failure.
As leaders it is our role to coach, train, and allow people to grow. The absolute choking of enthusiasm and experimentation due to over-regulation and a generation of managers afraid to fail or invest is what prevents us from taking off again - NOT the lack of talent.
Talent is there we just need to use it, shape it, and invest in it...instead of believing the false newspeak that no one can cast, plate, machine, assembly, weld, etc anymore.