My rural town's high school, with an average graduating class of about a hundred, has an after school robotics class that kicks a$$ and takes names at local, regional and state level competitions. Combining programming, problem solving, mechanical engineering, CAD/CAM, milling, machining and human resource allocation skills in a state of the art wood and metal shop. Admittedly, there 4x8 flat bed wood router cnc is a bit clunky and antiquated but the HAAS metal machining center is up to the job and they go hard for that state wide brass ring every year.
More and more robotics are in small local job shops in every community. I know, I'm one. Robotics allows me to maintain my current existence. That and a global supply chain that looks to be going away from hubris and incompetence. I doubt Jake Sullivan knows how to turn a screw much less know where they come from.
There's a lot of capability in the streets. The ruling classes above?... not so much.
That's a hopeful sign for a hopeful future. But only if we can manage to scale stuff like up to enterprise level penetration.
Prospective factory workers will need to apply themselves to .... Oh I dunno, maybe a six to eight week course to learn robotics basics.
Am I off by weeks, or even months in either direction? Maybe but the idea is to make training widely available and accessible.
Perhaps companies can offer subsidized training after an initial HR screening where candidates who pass get asked to make a commitment to training and an eventual job if they're deemed good enough to be hired.
Robotics as I am sure you know, doesn't always translate to utterly empty factories because it's about consistent speed and quality but we carbon based life forms have to babysit the machines to keep them happy and filled up with parts.
