Another former draftsman here...started a new job at a civil engineering firm and was tasked with learning AutoCAD. Quickly became once of the lead CAD draftsmen in the department, as part of that I picked up AutoLISP scripting to automate a lot of work. I found I liked writing scripts so I took an introductory C programming course; I aced that.
At the same time I was going to college part-time nights as an engineering major, but from my perch as a draftsman I was not really seeing a lot to love about civil engineering. I ran across an ad for a tech support job at a startup CAD software vendor, applied, and got the gig. I quit that drafting job, put away my ink pens and electric eraser, and switched to a computer science major.
The rest is history, now a senior systems software engineer working on projects for NASA. So godspeed John Walker, thanks for pointing me in the direction of a 30+ year career that has been both lucrative and interesting.
I would say "technology" is more appropriate than "automation". That and globalization have done it.
Example: I live in Baltimore, a city that used to have an array of industries paying living wage blue-collar jobs that didn't require a lot in the way of education or other qualifications. All those industries -- shipping/stevedoring, shipbuilding, steel, auto manufacturing, general manufacturing -- were either globalized and went overseas or in the case of shipping underwent a technology shift (containerization) that eliminated most of the good-paying jobs.
The white collar jobs were hit more by technology/automation. The city used to be a regional banking/insurance center, but between consolidation of banks or insurance companies to compete in wider markets and technology automating most of the clerical-level stuff, those jobs disappeared too.
The only jobs left in the city now are at the bottom or the top of the wage scale, the middle is completely gone. And you can easily see the impact it has had on the city.
At the same time I was going to college part-time nights as an engineering major, but from my perch as a draftsman I was not really seeing a lot to love about civil engineering. I ran across an ad for a tech support job at a startup CAD software vendor, applied, and got the gig. I quit that drafting job, put away my ink pens and electric eraser, and switched to a computer science major.
The rest is history, now a senior systems software engineer working on projects for NASA. So godspeed John Walker, thanks for pointing me in the direction of a 30+ year career that has been both lucrative and interesting.