Sweat

“Because he knew what was going on, and you can only know that by being there. A machine was broken, he knew. A worker was having trouble, he knew. You don’t see a lot of young guys out there. They find it offensive to be on the floor with their Wharton MBAs. And the problem is they don’t wanna get their feet dirty, their diplomas soiled with sweat…or understand the real cost, the human cost of making their shitty product.” 

Cynthia muses about the exciting possibility of management promoting someone off the factory floor, urging Tracey to apply for the job along with her. Cynthia reflects that the factory has improved since Olstead’s grandson took over operations, believing that this promotion is one in a series of positive changes. Stan, however, is skeptical that the current generation of management—and national leaders beyond Olstead’s—has their best interests at heart. He claims that the “old man” might have been a tyrant, but at least he inspected the floor every day, and “he knew what was going on.” The younger generation, however, believes in maintaining a vast intellectual, emotional, and physical remove from the workers who “sweat” to produce their products.

By addressing this generational removal from factory operations, this moment foreshadows the outsourcing of labor even farther away (to Mexico). Stan’s reflection suggests that the current generation is capable of this removal because they have an entirely different perspective (and are far less concerned with the “human cost” of production).