True for sure, stranger things have happened. I'm no overly stressed about it because by the time it really impacts our industry, I will be aging out of the work force anyway, at least trying to!

The need for formal education, it depends on the occupation, do you want surgery from the guy who watched a few youtube videos? my industry, do that and they will blow up the place or kill someone including themselves by accident. We do have a different program tho, it's not 3 years strait school, it's a well paid apprenticeship that requires 1500 hours of actual work experience and mentorship each year, 2 strait months of school learning all the book portion and the wages increase each competed year. Not too bad of a deal actually. Some degrees I agree is like putting lipstick on a pig and shouldn't be necessary if an individual has good "street skills" in their industry of choice.

Here without the basic first 12 years of grade school is hard to even get a job nowadays just slinging beer and serving tables. You even need an additional course now too. A single mom trying to open a dayhome to care for a few children as income, need school for that too cause raising your own kids isn't enough experience. It's sad really. Knowledge and skills shoud matter more than what school you went to.

I'm 50/50 on mine, not the job I had imagined but it's actually pretty cool some of the projects I get to be a part of, something very few see! But it was means to an end like you. It's what I had to work with because I didn't like the circumstances I was in and wanted to get out. That was my way out. Like any human, I like being lazy and wanted summers off because it's nice and I want to be outside exploring and winters off because I hate the cold and this job gives me that with the high hours. Given when we work it's over 80 hours a week it's like 2 weeks in one so I do all my hours at once and take my summer and winters off rather than the continuous 9-5 5days a week(works out the same amount of hours worked per year in the end)...that is just too unnatural for me to live that way. Not the dream job but gets my dream-ish lifestyle...I say that modestly, like a respectable roof over my head and don't have to pinch pennies when I do groceries on my time off kinda dream.

I agree we need better energy technologies and transportation policies all around, even in manufacturing. I don't think solar or windmills and long lasting lithium batteries is going to solve that.