I had an opportunity to do some industrial work while putting myself through university. I do wish there were more opportunities to do industrial work on a part time, temporary, or casual basis. There is something particularly rewarding about working with your hands as a part of a team and in combination with a large machine to produce something tangible.
My first job was as technician, then, as an EE (well, I lie, my first job was as a dishwasher, at a nursing home, but that was when I was 16).
The nice thing about that job, was that I got to do both the hardware and the software. In my case, I designed the electronics, and things like the chassis, so I was working with the metalshop, and whatnot.
I fell into industrial work right out of undergrad as a EE, not intending to work in the rust belt or manufacturing or anything of the like. I erroneously assumed it was not important, not sexy, not interesting. How wrong that was.
How things are made is so important, not only for our society but also as learning experiences for engineers, planners, logicticians, and more. As a career roboticist, the time I spent in the manufacturing industry seems invaluable to me now.
The problem is not that it's 'not important' or 'not sexy', and the attitude that this stuff is somehow underappreciated is so tiresome. It's endlessly fetishized in mainstream media, by politicians, and so on, in a reverse-snobbism anti-intellectual bend, designed to appeal to the insecurities of the "lower" class American.
The problem is that industrial manufacturing employers treat their workers are poorly as they possibly can, and these days, companies actually seek to treat workers so poorly they don't stay - to keep them from qualifying for expensive benefits.
We have one of the highest productivity per person-hour rates in the industrialized world and you'd never think it if you spent even two days working in a warehouse or manufacturing plant. No amount of productivity is ever enough - if you do your job well, you're just shoved more work instead of being rewarded for your effort.
