After the company's previous cuts, the £335 million investment in the area does not simply mean "Fantastic, there are 750 new jobs in Wolverhampton, so 750 people can get off the dole", it really does mean something more positive in many other respects.
For a start, any manufacturing jobs in the United Kingdom are welcome in my opinion. Manufacturing has been a lost industry in the country, and, as much as possible, we should welcome it back. An scene which has stuck in my mind and is appropriate at this moment is a clip from Top Gear where the three presenters take some classic British cars through their usual kinds of challenges and on the way look at a disused factory, just abandoned by the reduction in British car production. This can, and should, be rectified and any step towards that is a positive one.
This news also means that people who get these jobs will be skilled, or will become skilled workers. It is not just another minimum-wage job that anybody could fall into or, equally, fall out of. The engines produced in this Fordhouses factory will be low-emission engines, which obviously are technically-skilled jobs. People with technical jobs (especially when they're good at them) are happier people because they can have more pride in themselves. Furthermore, these jobs are producing the engines which will become the norm in our cars, or at least developing such technology, and so there is future longevity in the factory, which may encourage young people into this job area or apprenticeships. Also with a new factory, and these new, skilled jobs,and hopefully an ameliorating economy, the Wolverhampton and Black Country areas can return a little to their roots, be be a bit more proud of itself as a whole and a little less downtrodden by the rest of the country.
Of course, aside from all of this, I do have to admit that I am happy they're producing new Jaguars (I'll take or leave the Land Rovers) in my city.
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