This mod adds a new custom career to the game: the Factory Worker. Many players, including myself, lament the lack of “blue collar” careers in The Sims games so this mod is intended to give players a generic “blue collar” career to provide employment for their town.
Looking for employment? Then look no further than a career with Industrial Systems, the biggest employer of industrial workers throughout SimNation! Beginning with a humble single factory in Twinbrook, Industrial Systems has grown into a nation-wide corporation with factories spread across every major metropolitan area, employing hundreds of thousands of people in a capitalistic juggernaut that boasts record profits and passes almost none of it onto our workforce. We offer our employees a competitive… well, almost competitive salary. Our lawyers assure us that it’s at least above the legal minimum we can pay, anyways. So come and work for Industrial Systems! We’ll hire you even if you don’t have any qualifications, just show a willingness to get to work and don’t ask any questions about our company’s Health Insurance! (Hint: There isn’t any) If you work hard enough on the production line, you too may even reach managerial level. You won’t be running the company, but…uhm, you can wear a suit?
Rabbithole: The Factory Worker career is situated in the Science Lab rabbithole. Although the obvious choice seemed to be to put the career in the Abandoned Warehouse, this didn’t really sit right with me since the Abandoned Warehouses in the Sims 3 are where criminals go to work, and the Science Lab feels much more like the kind of industrial-style building where large-scale factory work would take place. Nevertheless, I’ve included an Abandoned Warehouse version if you would prefer to use it. Just note that the Warehouse version may still refer to the Science Lab at times.
Work Tones:
Business as Usual
Study hard in the library (Work Hard)
Relax in other Factory Workers
Hang Out with Co-Workers
Fix Broken Machinery (Increases Handiness skill)
JOB LEVELS – FACTORY WORKER:
Level 1: Factory Assembly Line Worker $17 per hour – Mon, Tue,Wed,Thur,Fri
Welcome to the assembly line, newbie! Like most of the employees here at Industrial Systems, you’ll be working day-in day-out on the assembly line, both in the manufacturing and shipping of goods. It’s not glamorous work, and you’ll come home most nights with grease and oil stains down your company-supplied overalls, but …well… that’s the job. Assembly Line workers keep the great machine of production running, turning the raw materials provided into the final end product that’s shipped out to the paying customer, as well as keeping the machinery in good working order. Make sure to keep up with those production quotas, and don’t let your supervisor see you slacking off, or else it’ll be a trip to the manager’s office to explain yourself. However, if you show a bit of proficiency with a wrench and you might be allowed to … put things in boxes. Oooh! Exciting stuff.
Level 2: Factory Assembly Line Box Packer $26 per hour – Mon, Tue,Wed,Thur,Fri
Congratulations! You’ve proven yourself to have slightly more initiative than the rest of your fellow luddite underlings… uh, I mean, fellow assembly line workers. Your supervisor has noticed, and has put you on the “incredibly” important duty of packing away things into boxes, and then shipping those boxes all around the world to our paying customers. Get used to the layout of the warehouse and keep an eye on stock and inventory levels as you wrestle with a potent mix of forklift trucks, masking tape, tinnned goods, and (of course) boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. I hope you don’t hurt your back “too” much carrying them all from point A to point B.
Level 3: Factory Night Security Guard $42 per hour – Mon, Tue,Wed,Thur
Seeing a chance to escape the daily monotony of the production line, you’ve applied to be re-deployed to another area, and your wish has been granted! Well, sort of. Your supervisor has put you on the night shift as a security guard. It’s incredibly dull, boring work… so basically what you’ve already been doing, but during the night-time instead. Night security guards patrol the factory, but also need to take care of the machines we keep running overnight (the factory never sleeps, you know!) Keep your torch batteries fresh and your cups of coffee ready as you settle into a long night shift, making sure no intruders get in. It’s not likely at all, but hey, you’re getting paid an increased night-shift pay rate to babysit a bunch of machines and conveyor belts, so don’t complain too much.
JOB LEVELS – MANAGEMENT BRANCH:
These levels branch off from Level 3 of the “Factory Worker” Branch Level 4: Administrative Staff $49 per hour – Mon, Tue,Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun
At last, the night shifts are over and you’ve finally got your own office… well, you share an office with the rest of the admin staff, but that’s just semantics. Now you can just sit in a chair at a computer and avoid all of that greasy, messy, oily and dirty manual labour down there, you now spend your days poring over receipts, tax forms, employee HR grievances and other mindless tedium. As you send out email after email, try to remember the poor assembly line workers still toiling away down in the factory… as you sip tepid coffee from a polystyrene cup in your second-floor shared office. If the air conditioning worked properly and they bothered to deal with that cockroach infestation, it might even be considered “pleasant” up here. Oh, and your malfunctioning computer keyboard will be fixed by the IT department at some point. Maybe, if the budget allows for it.
Level 5: Assembly Line Manager $72 per hour – Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri
Just when you thought you’d finally escaped the noisy factory floor, they’ve gone and put you back on the assembly line… damn it, back here again? At least you’re in a more senior position this time. As a supervisor, your job is to keep the workforce in line. It’s not a popular position, but SOMEBODY has got to be there to crack the metaphorical whip. Sure, you’ll be saddled with all of the petty grievances and whining of everybody on the assembly line, and sure, you’ll still need to stick your hand into a machine now and then to keep things running, but now people have to call you “sir”. And your lunch break is fifteen minutes longer, so just focus on the little things. There’s definitely “not” a dart board with a photo of your face stuck onto it in one of the store rooms. Not at all. I think… Level 6: Factory Manager
$90 per hour – Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri
Your efforts have been recognised, and after a gruelling interview process you’ve been selected to become the new factory manager! Pick out your cheesiest suit and tie, because now everyone has to do what YOU tell them to do. At least, in this factory anyways. You’ll still need to answer to the regional director and upper management, but this is as far as you can progress in a factory of this size. The Manager directs the factory and liaises with the Managers of other factories, but you’ll spend most of your days lounging in your own private office, looking out at the assembly line staff toiling on the factory floor below, and remember to check your emails and deal with those all-important employee questions and requests. Like, if you’ve got the time, that is. After your golf game. And if some people need to be laid off due to budget cuts? Hey, that’s life.
JOB LEVELS – ENGINEERING BRANCH:
These levels branch off from Level 3 of the “Factory Worker” Branch Level 4: Technician $52 per hour – Mon, Tue,Wed, Thur
At last, the night shifts are over, and you’ve applied to be a part of the Engineering Division. But first, you’ve got to earn your stripes by doing lower-level technical work to show your worth. You’ll work as a technican, A.K.A. the factory’s technical support, and will deal with employee complaints about faulty equipment. Try not to lose the company too much money by making that machinery work as long as possible, and you’ll maybe not spend too long in the dingy lower basement levels of the factory. Technicians are basically the lackeys of the Engineering Division, so keep your hammer and wrench ready as you try not to grumble too much over every little broken keyboard or socket. If you even show a bit of ingenuity and display the ability to solve machine-related problems yourself, you might even get a ticket up to the Engineering Division.
Level 5: Engineer $70 per hour – Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri
Welcome to Engineering! Engineers enjoy more perks than their technician counterparts, and they even get their own separate break area. Okay, it’s basically a small room in the basement, with a leaky tap and the fridge is on the fritz sometimes, but as an engineer you’ll be working to not only fix the factory’s numerous technical problems, but you’ll be helping to improve productivity around here. Engineers are called upon to provide new and exciting concepts and ways of saving the company money… uh, I mean, of improving the end product for the consumer. Okay, every so often you’ll still be asked to head into the dark basement to fix a broken steam vent or heaven knows what else, but your work is integral to making sure that the factory runs as smoothly as possible.
Level 6: Head Engineer $90 per hour – Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri
The Engineering Division is now under your management, and this means that you get the privilege of doing what all managers get to do: Point at things you want fixed and watch your underlings scurry over to carry out your will. As head of Engineering, you will hold meetings to ensure that the company’s quotas and expectations are met. This is the highest position you can reach in this factory, but it’s a position of great responsibility: You’re the man they turn to when they need to order new parts or even order a whole new machine, and you’re also the man they’ll complain about when you have to say “no” due to company-wide budget cuts.
This career branches once after level three, where you can go into either the Management or Engineering branch. The career has six levels, since it isn’t the career for the most ambitious or corporate-ladder-climbing Sims. Initially, the career focuses on the Handiness skill. The Management path will also require Charisma, while the Engineering path will require Inventing.
This career has its own uniforms and an array of different opportunities, some of which depend on which career branch you choose.
