Recently my wife commented on how much time I was spending watching the NFL Draft coverage on ESPN. “You’re a Bronco fan. They don’t pick again for an hour, at least. Are you really that fascinated by who Buffalo selects in the 5th round?” she asked.
But there I sat along with 45.7 million other football fanatics glued to the tube for the third consecutive day of ESPN’s round-the-clock, nonstop coverage of this ridiculously uneventful event.
Instead of being ashamed, I should take pride. After all, I am an American, and America is #1!
We are the runaway, undisputed, world-class leaders in all things entertainment-related.
When we’re not watching the Monday Night Game, the All Star Game, the Stanley Cup, Wimbledon, the Masters, the X-Games, or the gold medal ceremony for synchronized swimming in the Olympics, we’re watching the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, CMA’s, and VMA’s. And when we’re not passively watching sports and award shows, we’re texting our votes for who we think should win The Voice, America’s Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance? The X Factor, American Idol, Last Comic Standing, Dancing With the Stars, etc.
STARS IN THEIR EYES
The resounding message for anyone coming of age in today’s 24/7/365 entertainment-saturated world is crystal clear and stunningly profound: If you can’t become a movie star, rock star, sports star, or even a reality show star, you’re going to have to get a real job and be forced to live among the working class — and who wants to actually work for a living?
A survey quoted in a recent article in Time magazine pointed out that three times as many middle school girls want to grow up to be a personal assistant to a famous person as want to be a Senator; four times as many of them would pick the assistant job over being a CEO of a major company. It’s a sad commentary when America is grooming youth who are so enamored with celebrity that they’d choose serving one over being a top-level leader in any field that’s not entertainment-related.
And it’s not just pre-pubescent girls. When was the last time you heard of a teenager that aspired to be a welder on a pipeline in North Dakota? Or a diesel mechanic in Saginaw? Or a plastic lathe operator for an aerospace contractor in Baton Rouge?
Those kinds of jobs are plentiful, they pay extremely high wages, and they don’t require a four-year degree that often comes packaged with $50K in student loans. The problem with these kinds of jobs in construction and manufacturing is, quite frankly, they aren’t ‘sexy’.
The dichotomy that exists between the excellent jobs that are available in non-sexy fields and what today’s young Americans have been conditioned to believe they are entitled to is astounding. Until that gap narrows, we will continue to hear the loud grumblings of employers who are less than thrilled with the labor pool, and those disenfranchised young workers who comprise it and feel deserving of a job and a title that will impress their peers.
ON POINT for PARENTS & GRADS – Having spoken for dozens of manufacturing-related national trade associations over the past 18 months, I can say with complete certainty that the future is extremely bright for any student who is sharp, self-motivated, and is willing to forgo a sexy job title in exchange for a solid, high paying career in a booming industry offering unlimited opportunities for advancement. And a lot of these jobs are very high-tech and remarkably cool! Visit TheManufacturingInstitute.org and do some homework. It’s worth your time.
ON POINT for EMPLOYERS– Face the facts: you aren’t going to convince a millennial that a job in manufacturing is as appealing as being a rock star or the next LeBron James. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be. Just be aggressive in your search for opportunities to expose the teens in your community to the jobs and opportunities that exist within your company and/or industry. Get them thinking about how cool it is to make things with their hands and how proud they will be when they have created something from nothing. Support SkillsUSA and any industrial arts programs that are being taught in your school system. The sooner you can reach a kid in their education, the better your odds will be to opening their mind to a promising and rewarding career in your industry.
Eric: This is a great post that clearly indicates the job opportunities to people willing to embark on a non-traditional white collar career track. We work with manufacturers in our consulting and know they are always looking for self-motivated talent who are willing to learn the trades. The costs for joining the manufacturing workforce is a lot less costly than a 4 year college degree. I wish businesses would be more financially supportive of the vo-tech curriculum in the high schools to demonstrate the positive aspects of following such a career.
I couldn’t agree more, Ann. I do a lot of work with state and national CTE (Career and Technology Education) associations and am actually keynote Idaho’s this month and Texas’s in July.
The future is very bright for those that master a trade and have the work ethic to support it.