"He won't be able to have a career designing and building stuff because all those jobs have moved to India."

So move to India already.

Seriously, choosing one 'thing' and doing it repeatedly for decades on end. What's the term I'm looking for ...?

Industrial age! That's it!

Actually, that approach still applies, as long as your 'thing' happens to be learning.

RE: CNN.com - Tech jobs leave U.S. for India, Russia - Jul. 14, 2003