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Given the present climate of outsourcing, I've read that the future belongs to skilled trades; construction workers, electrical, HVAC, machine technicians. You can't outsource those jobs! The auto manufacturers are keenly aware of the crisis in skilled trades and are doing whatever they can to assure a future supply of quality technicians. If no one can repair their products, no one will buy them. Same with electronics. If the Yuan (chinese) currency gets revalued, the price of a lot of things will go up, possibly a lot - and I predict a renissance of repair, because it just won't be so easy to throw out stuff anymore.
Have you noticed all of the Spanish language printed and spoken in an auto store these days? Look around. These Mexicans seem to be among the only people who feel that self-sufficiency is important, and that don't mind getting their hands dirty. Most kids think that "radical modifications" to a car include screwing a fart can on the tailpipe and installing LED valve caps on the tires. People complain that the economy is bad and our standard of living is going down, while plunking $35 on a credit card to get an oil change (every 6000 miles, needed or not...). An able-bodied person should be able to do this in no more than an hour (including purchase, disposal, cleanup). If you aren't making $60K per year, it pays.
I had a friend who grew up in Detroit in the 60's and he told me that there were no tune-up shops there because everyone including his mother (seriously, HIS mother) could tune up their own car - because the big 3 gave literally hundreds of TONS of expensive equipment, motors, transmissions, entire cars, etc to the school system - a good investment - you could be ready to work the day you stepped foot on the factory floor!
Mechanics have never gotten any respect. That's why they are now called "automotive technicians".
Supposedly, really good engine diagnosticians at a dealer can make as much as high-end computer geeks! Somehow this word hasn't gotten out yet - as our society seems to respect only money. Consider this - would you rather have your daughter marry a "customer service representative" or a "car mechanic"? What if the car mechanic earns 2-3X as much money?
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