Are Engineers becoming extinct here?

Couldn't sleep last night. I didn't realize when I eventually did doze off. I'm still feeling groggy as I'm typing this. Blogging from my office just to keep me awake.

There were so many things going on in my head like flashing lights blinking randomly. "Tossing and turning in my bed" was not a line from a Dokken song.

1. First, it was frigging hot.
2. Second, as it turned out, I'm losing not three but FOUR of my members this month when the last Operator came to me in the late afternoon with a college offer letter in her hand.
3. Third, I saw a picture of someone I talked about before (about starting new and moving on with life) and the image stuck in my head which brought me back to the issue listed as second.

The hot air in my room and just about everywhere in Malaysia right now was drying my throat. As much as I wanted for yesterday's news to not bother me much, it does. The prospect of having only THREE members left in my section terrifies me. Also, it makes me angrier and angrier by the second towards our Management.

For Heaven's sake, we are the Engineering group. We are the heart of the Division's daily operation. What sort of policy is that allowing ONLY Operators to be inducted as members due to cost-cutting? How can a bunch of Operators lead a Division? Would anyone with a modicum of common sense be willing to be led by a team with more than half of its members comprising Operators?

*Not to sound offensive but Operators are only above the Cleaners in the factory hierarchy

My main problem with Operators is how quickly they they leave. Since we started taking Operators last year, I have had SEVEN of them. All sent resignation letters within 6 months. The Management like to take in younger girls. This is where the problem starts as many of them are just girls fresh out of schools waiting for college offers. They're not here for the long run. Engineering is not something you can learn in a day unlike the Production line processes. In the end, it's me and my remaining members being left exhausted, drained off our energies.

I do not think our Management understand what Engineering is all about. Operators are not the level of employees paid to contribute ideas and come up wth action plans and instructions for other employees to execute their tasks correctly.

Operators are employed to be told what to do and that's it.
Engineers are the brainstormers and the ones responsible to ensure that the jobs are done properly.

I wouldn't mind having Operators as my subordinates if I were in charge of straightforward process such as Production or Store. However, Operators are not supposed to be your Engineering reference. HELLO!! Anybody listening?

Is this my prophecy? Becoming extinct? After all, I did call myself a dinosaur and soon to turn to fossils. That soon?