While every generation may think the next generation has lost the work ethic they have, having spent a great deal of time in Asian yards (including the one in the video), I can say with assurance they are putting many Western yards and workers to shame, and this is by no means limited to the marine industry.
Walk around a Chinese airport and you'll see what I mean, clean, efficient, functional, and staffed with helpful folks who are proud to do even the most menial jobs, their security makes TSA look like Keystone Cops. You never see Chinese police shooting the breeze, holding a cup of coffee or looking at their cell phones. The same is true of Chinese ship yard workers, they rarely look at their phones during working hours, it's a huge problem in the US. I have countless stories where Chinese and Taiwanese people have gone to ridiculous lengths to assist me, a stranger and a Westerner. They simply never quit. Virtually every university student I meet in China or Taiwan is studying engineering, chemistry, business or medicine. It's hard not to be impressed.
They work hard, fast and smart and often with the most rudimentary tools (no giant Snap On roll aways), I have yet to encounter a store-bought chisel or plane, broom, mop or dust pan in an Asian yard. Depending of course on the yard and oversight, they can produce extremely high quality work if properly guided and tasked, they take constructive criticism very well, and are extremely quick to learn and correct mistakes. I'm involved in 6 new builds in Taiwan and China right now and the trips I make there are among the most rewarding I take.
I've eaten at many of the yard cafeterias, in 90% of the cases the food is wholesome, plentiful and better than most US Chinese take out food.
Having said all that, the pollution in China is heartbreaking, the aroma of sewer gas is common on most city streets, and spitting in public is extremely common; public bathrooms and night trains can be, well, an experience. Workers in yards often don't, or can't, read instruction manuals, so they simply wing it with gear installations, but that happens in the US very often as well. Although I don't see welders weld without eye protection (you'd get flash burns if you did that, not to mention going blind) it's not uncommon to get welding flash as you walk through shops, you need to have good eye discipline. Dust masks are common, respirators and eye protection rare. If you don't give a western worker everything he or she needs to do the job, they'll stop until they have it, a Chinese worker will improvise, for better or worse. A different culture to be sure, but one that should never be underestimated.
When I hear westerners denigrate China, Chinese culture or Chinese workers I feel compelled to set them straight. Yes, there is a big problem with intellectual property theft, patent infringement and reverse engineering, as well as worker safety, etc, however, Taiwanese and Chinese workers are a force to be reckoned with; they are among the most industrious people I have ever met.
My website has several Chinese and Taiwanese photo galleries
https://stevedmarineconsulting.com/photo-gallery/
As well as travelogues detailing some of my trips through these countries
https://stevedmarineconsulting.com/travelogues/