I've worked in two factories, striping down old machines, unloading trucks, overnight shifts at gas stations where you're just as likely to get shot as you are to make it through the night. I've cleaned up blood, shit, vomit. I nearly had my hand torn off in an industrial machine. I worked hard because I thought that was the right thing to do. And all I ever got for it was a barely livable wage (I'm talking eating flour mixed with chicken broth and being damned excited about it because we could pay the power bill). I also learned that working that kind of job offers no security, no mobility, and is only barely worth doing. I'm not and have never been above physical labor. But in today's society, in the US, it's really hard to live a healthy life that way.

Certainly, I didn't mean to imply a permanence, only that doing something is usually better than nothing. I've always found employers infinitely more receptive to a person with a demonstrable work ethic, and far less sympathetic to the NEET or apathetic job seeker.

It's an interesting cycle. Lots of people from my home town have never had any sort of technical work and thus the people in my age group were sort of compelled toward the non technical also. So when you're 16 and you try to get your first job at the pharmaceutical factory they will ask you what kind of skills you have. If you have technical skills then the manager assumes that you will leave when something else comes along and so won't hire you. So you lie about it and say you're a hard worker etc. Later, you go to your first IT interview and they ask about previous jobs. Depending in the interviewer they will be glad that you've had a physical job or they will assume that you're not really all that skilled and be cautious in hiring you. Either way, it's difficult in many small towns to get better and better jobs. And stagnation isn't much better than being unemployed in the first place. And as you said, it's helpful if you can move to somewhere else. But lots of young people feel responsible for their families and want to try to contribute financially and emotionally. And it's difficult to do that from too far away. In my case, my wife and I have almost no attachment to any particular place, and as such we've both been fortunate in the job market. But others find it very difficult to let go of home.