Manual labor is not a bad thing. In fact, it is critical to everyday life as we know it. Robots are good for taking over dangerous jobs so that we don't put peoples lives in danger, but we can't have robots picking up trash, fixing roads, farming food, raising cattle so we can have steak, building houses, clearing land, etc. Life just would not function without these areas in life covered. I recently wrote an essay for my college writing class on this topic and discussed how college is not for everyone and how our country is slowly taking away from the value of the "trades" and manual labor. Our country has this image that we students will play varsity sports, get good SAT or ACT scores and receive tons of scholarships, play college sports while maintaining studies, and get a high paying job. Hate to break it to most of Americans, but that just does not happen in real life!
Engineering is a great field of work that shapes the future of the world, but it is not the only thing that will change the future, there are so many jobs that change how the day happens and functions.