I’d like the experts to back me up on something that’s really important to me. I’ve been having some issues with my friends here understanding something, and I want to be able to show them some proof that I’m right.
My dad is in manufacturing, and he’s incredibly well-trained, talented, and well-paid. But my friends here seem to have a vision of manufacturing as some low-wage, low-skilled industry. Sure, parts of it can be like that, but modern manufacturing is full of precision work and trained experts, some of whom make good money! I’m sick of hearing my friends talk down to me about my father, and I’m sick of their perception that I’m from some lower-income background. They think I’m full of it when I tell them the truth, but maybe they’ll listen to the experts.
Our experts had no problem backing you up. At a time when many Americans fear that too many low-skilled manufacturing jobs are being sent overseas, American manufacturing is increasingly an industry that puts an emphasis on skills and training. The changing face of American manufacturing has put an emphasis on custom and precision work, say the manufacturing press suppliers at BCN Technical Services. The manufacturing industry is increasingly tasked with producing goods for technology companies, and even goods made for other industries often feature technical elements. The developers of complex machinery at CMSNA say that serving tech companies demands extreme precision and attention to minute details. The United States’ manufacturing industry was never known for shoddy work, but today’s tasks demand a new level of quality.
And that’s why the manufacturing industry’s workforce is an increasingly a high-skilled group. In fact, companies are having trouble finding enough skilled laborers to suit their needs! While wages in manufacturing as a whole are stagnating, skilled and trained workers like your father are in a very competitive position in a market that has seen companies go so far as to relocate to be near larger pools of skilled workers.
In short, there’s no reason for your friends to doubt that your father is talented, well-trained, and well-compensated, and no reason for them to treat you as if you were raised with too little. With that said, though, perhaps this issue goes deeper than the facts of your father’s career.
Your friends seem to treat people differently based on their financial circumstances and background. They also seem unwilling to adjust their view of you and your family, choosing their presuppositions over the things that you tell them. Even if they do come to realize that they were wrong about your background, perhaps you should consider how much time you want to spend around a group that puts such a premium on a person’s class background. You are all at the same university, and you all have bright futures: why are they treating some people (including you) with less respect than others?
“Unlike the objective of far too many companies, manufacturing is not about a quick ‘exit.’ It is centered on long-term value creation.” -- Hamdi Ulukaya
