deanrd
Gold Member
- May 8, 2017
- 29,411
- 3,644
- 290
- Banned
- #1
Trump tried to save their jobs. These workers are quitting anyway.
At a time when the Trump administration argues that creating manufacturing jobs is a critical national goal — even coordinating with states on generous subsidy packages to woo blue-collar employers — many factory workers are making a surprising decision: They’re quitting.
And Glenn, 53, is going back to school.
“I didn’t want to suffer another 15 years in there,” he said.
Glenn said he noticed robots creeping into the plant about 18 months ago. A blue-and-gray machine bumped him to another spot in the factory, he said, which pushed a younger employee into a lower-paid role. (Carrier did not comment on the factory’s technological changes.)
“We would have to be ignorant to look away from automation,” he said. “It’s taking things over.”
Brenda Battle, 55, also took the buyout in July after a quarter-century of working at Carrier.
She said she got lonely after a robot arrived, making her two-person job a one-person job. She disliked the absence of friendly chatter and named the machine after a five-letter expletive.
“That thing was scary,” she said.
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Automation isn't coming. It's here.
At a time when the Trump administration argues that creating manufacturing jobs is a critical national goal — even coordinating with states on generous subsidy packages to woo blue-collar employers — many factory workers are making a surprising decision: They’re quitting.
And Glenn, 53, is going back to school.
“I didn’t want to suffer another 15 years in there,” he said.
Glenn said he noticed robots creeping into the plant about 18 months ago. A blue-and-gray machine bumped him to another spot in the factory, he said, which pushed a younger employee into a lower-paid role. (Carrier did not comment on the factory’s technological changes.)
“We would have to be ignorant to look away from automation,” he said. “It’s taking things over.”
Brenda Battle, 55, also took the buyout in July after a quarter-century of working at Carrier.
She said she got lonely after a robot arrived, making her two-person job a one-person job. She disliked the absence of friendly chatter and named the machine after a five-letter expletive.
“That thing was scary,” she said.
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Automation isn't coming. It's here.