College degree required to work at a factory?

[CatsDomino]

As automation takes over simple tasks and machinery becomes more difficult to operate, many manufacturing companies are starting to require or prefer college degrees. People with college degrees now make up over 40% of the manufacturing workforce; soon, they will be the majority. Four out of five job openings at Caterpillar require or prefer a degree. Around 70% of Honeywell's 2019 new-hires have an associate's degree or higher. Robots have taken over repetitive tasks at Harley-Davidson reducing workplace injuries. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/american-fa...1575907185

I'm not very surprised by this at all.  My oldest son who is early 20s works as an engineering tech at a local manufacturing facility.  He was offered that position straight out of community college with his AE (associate in engineering) and makes over $45k per year.  He's gaining real world experience, working full-time, and taking advantage of the articulation agreement between his community college and Western Carolina to get his BS in electrical engineering using NC Tuition Promise - an amazing opportunity for residents of North Carolina!

According to my son, most of the positions his workplace has open right now require a minimum of an associate's degree.  His employer is having a very hard time finding candidates for those jobs since it's not the traditional path for engineers.  To generate more interest, they're now advertising that they'll pay for promising part-time candidates to go to community college if they'll sign on for two years of full-time work at the completion of their degree.