A long-term observation from 1977-1980, focusing on the apprentice Gerd and his family. Gerd wants to become an electrician, but after several rejections he accepts an apprenticeship as a lathe operator at Ford. In the first two years he works in an apprentice workshop, in the third year he has to go into production; from now on he is under a lot of pressure, because the company keeps the decision as to whether to take on an apprentice as a normal employee open until the last moment. When Gerd talks about the apprenticeship at home and criticizes the training, his parents reprimand him. They say: You'd better put something away! He shouldn't stand out in the company. The work of a lathe operator is increasingly being taken over by automatic machines. Gerd realizes that he is learning a trade that no one will need any more soon.