Business
Some Millennials Claim Manufacturing Jobs Are Unfulfilling: Here are 3 Reasons Why They’re Not
In the current job market, there are usually several manufacturing job openings available. But very few millennials are willing to take these jobs, firstly because they lack the skill needed to effectively perform them and secondly because they are unwilling to learn the necessary skills. Asides from this, something else that’s driving millennials away from blue collar jobs is how the education system focuses more on preparing young students for university, while mostly ignoring trying to help them develop applicable trade skills.
If you are a millennial and you think a manufacturing job is beneath you, then you’ve likely got it all wrong. If you want proof, below are three important reasons why you might find more fulfilment on a manufacturing job than on a white collar job.
- Good pay
Contrary to popular belief, a majority of manufacturing jobs actually pay highly for skilled labour. In certain circumstances, even more than white collar jobs. This is especially seen in specialised manufacturing industries such as manufacturing of heavy-duty process pumps or other specialised equipment. In fact, if the pay of typical white-collar jobs and blue-collar jobs are placed side-by-side, you’ll likely discover that their pay is about the same. And as earlier mentioned, manufacturing jobs that require special skill likely come with even higher salary.
Not long ago, an article was put out by Forbes that indicated manufacturing jobs which offer some of the biggest salary increases. Some of the mentioned jobs included electronics technicians, electro mechanical technician, and maintenance managers.
- Manufacturing jobs in present day are “modern”
This age is witnessing an evolution in the manufacturing industry which takes the manufacturing process from simple manual labour to automation. If you are unfamiliar with it, a top class manufacturing line can come across as something that’s cut out of a science fiction picture and only workers with the required level of expertise can actually cope in such an environment. Thus, millennials who expect that a manufacturing job only involves mindless, repetitive tasks will likely be surprised to discover that a high level of skill and competence is required to cope in a modern manufacturing company. Modern skills like programmable logic controls and robotics programming, are now highly sought after and offered great pay and benefits in exchange for their services.
- Easy to acquire skills
The skills required to cope in a modern manufacturing company aren’t hard to learn. Regardless your educational background, you can learn necessary skills and become a viable candidate for a manufacturing job with a good income. There are even online technology classes that make it possible to develop professionally at your own pace. Also, most manufacturing jobs don’t require a full college degree, which means millennials can avoid huge tuition costs and still have great jobs.
If you are a millennial, a manufacturing job can actually be a way for you to make a difference in the world by contributing to the development of more effective and sustainable ways to perform our day to day activities.
