What Does Working in Industry Really Mean?

[Yayfordoritos]

what is "working in industry"?

I'm not understanding what people mean on here when they talk about working in industry. What exactly does that mean?

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Generally it's the difference between working for private companies and working in academia i.e. universities.

 

[lisab]

Working for industry means working for an organization that is not government (government = academia, national lab, military, etc.).

 

[Yayfordoritos]

Ok, so probably pretty much most jobs are in industry?

 

[russ_watters]

Ok, so probably pretty much most jobs are in industry?

Depends on the country, but there is a healthy fraction in each.

 

[Evo]

I'm not understanding what people mean on here when they talk about working in industry. What exactly does that mean?

There is an actual field designated as "industry" such as working in a specialty field such as manufacturing, although as mentioned it can mean just about anything, it would depend on the context of the discussion. Think about the automotive industry, for example.

Here is a definition of "industry".

Industry
Industry refers to the commercial production and sale of goods. Industrial companies make tangible items to sell to the public, government or other entities. They create products where no product existed through manufacturing processes. They build factories to create these products and hire engineers and scientists to design new ones.

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/definition-industrial-workplace-10039.html

Of course people say things like working in the movie industry. So again, look for context, are they talking about working in an industrial job, or just referring to a particular generic field?

 

[rootX]

Working for industry means working for an organization that is not government (government = academia, national lab, military, etc.).

Here, provincial utility companies are government owned. I think US utilities are more privately owned than government. So, I would still be able to say I work for industry even though if I am working for a government owned, utility company.

 

[Yayfordoritos]

There is an actual field designated as "industry" such as working in a specialty field such as manufacturing, although as mentioned it can mean just about anything, it would depend on the context of the discussion. Think about the automotive industry, for example.

Here is a definition of "industry".

Industry
Industry refers to the commercial production and sale of goods. Industrial companies make tangible items to sell to the public, government or other entities. They create products where no product existed through manufacturing processes. They build factories to create these products and hire engineers and scientists to design new ones.

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/definition-industrial-workplace-10039.html

Of course people say things like working in the movie industry. So again, look for context, are they talking about working in an industrial job, or just referring to a particular generic field?

That sounds like a fun job to design new products.