On Wed, 06 Feb 2008 21:45:19 +0000, Stephen wrote:

> Yes but what do you do with the millions of people that were needed for
> manufacturing and keeping the system going before automation and cheap
> transport. 

That can be a tricky one, especially early in the cycle.  I tend to think 
that *most* can re-skill and move up, or move sideways into a somewhat 
similar position in a different industry.

Those who tend to be successful, I think, tend to be people who instead 
of learning "how to build a paint sprayer", but rather how to follow 
instructions on how to build something.

From there, one possible career path is process optimization, which can 
open a bunch of other doors as well.

> That's the problem or at least one of them. Not everyone has
> the opportunity to re-skill and move up. 

At least in my experience, the opportunities are there, but the 
motivation often isn't.  Of course, it's not 100% who have the 
opportunities (or don't have the motivation).  A big problem also has to 
do with people living beyond their means; when you do that, you can't 
take a lower paying job while you are re-skilling.

When I moved into instruction, I took about a 7% pay cut (in base 
salary), and it was a struggle for a while.  After 5 years, I'm back 
where I was when I left the previous employer; but I'm also described as 
"unamerican" by some because I don't carry a lot of debt load and 
generally we only buy what we can afford right now (excepting big-ticket 
items like cars, houses, and that sort of thing).  Credit management is a 
skill that it seems a lot of younger people don't have these days - even 
in my generation, debt loads tend to be higher than our parents' were, 
and we learned about credit management later in life than we really 
should have.

> I'm on career #4; worked in
> factories, became a service engineer, worked offshore, now in SAP. But
> then I'm a chancer

Same here.  The director I worked for 6 years ago (when I left to come to 
Novell) said that he wished he had the guts to make a drastic change like 
I did.  I think he was also commenting on my choice of employer as well; 
Novell has long been known as a company that you're likely to get laid 
off from.  I've survived 3 or 4 RIFs in 5 years, the first one a month 
after I started.

> I can't believe I've had three interviews this week for jobs that would
> take me completely round the world. And one later in the week to work in
> Malaysia. That is a far cry from my father who only went abroad in the
> war.

Wow, that's impressive.  :-)

Jim

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