It used to be that managers, and eventually executives, worked their way up from the shop floor, so to speak; not necessarily from a blue collar position, but from a junior management or supervisory role. Today, the concept has arisen that management is a different type of activity than production work, that it can be taught and learned, and that it depends on principles independent of the industry or field where the manager works. The theory goes that if you can run a chain of supermarkets, you are equally qualified to run an airline, and that knowledge of retailing or aviation is an unecessary prerequisite for either. You can get a degree, or even a Master's in business administration these days, and this education supposedly prepares you to eventually fill a position of leadership in the modern workplace where the most junior subordinates are often highly educated engineers, accountants, lawyers, or other specialists with years of work experience.

As the older generation of management with true industrial experience passes on, their replacements are often totally unfamiliar with the work of their subordinates, which they consider to be mindless drudges, or at best, skilled but uncreative functionaries, interchangeable production resources. Engineering firms are less likely to be run by individuals with engineering experience, and so on, while the upper levels of management are becoming increasingly dominated by people who have never done anything but manage. Is it any wonder that they often exhibit nothing but contempt for those who by the nature of their professional interests, education, and experience have careers in non-administrative pursuits. It's no surprise that management often treats their workers, even white collar professionals, with such contempt.