Betting on any kind of physical retail profession seems pretty risky to me now days.
A labor market conundrum: Skilled and high-paying blue-collar jobs go unfilled
11–20 of 73 posts
Re: A labor market conundrum: Skilled and high-paying blue-collar jobs go unfilled
#12> “You can go to college and learn the theology of the Roman Empire,” says Kleis, who just completed a three-day training program at 84 Lumber’s rural Pennsylvania headquarters. “You learn all this ridiculous nonsense, and when you get out, what are you applying that to? I know how to frame a house.” This is so incredibly vapid and such a poor argument to make in favor of what is otherwise a valid case being made by…
As someone who has been surrounded by blue collar workers growing up. (Live on Farm and parents ran construction company). I would tend to agree with the quote. I am sophomore in college and it would appear that friends in high school who skipped out on college and are working now are economically and socially farther ahead in life than most of my classmates in college.
Re: A labor market conundrum: Skilled and high-paying blue-collar jobs go unfilled
#13> 84 Lumber’s owner, Maggie Hardy Magerko, has something in common with the president. Both inherited businesses from their fathers that have made them fabulously rich. Magerko owns almost all of closely held 84 Lumber, whose stores cater primarily to residential builders and contractors. She is worth $2.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
> Magerko, 51, is not afraid to flaunt her wealth, sending a message to her workers that they too can get rich working construction. Wearing a diamond cross necklace, a Gucci belt, and a white shirt emblazoned with the company logo, she visited a rural Pennsylvania store recently in a white Mercedes. “I want people who work for me to retire in their 50s and own their own boats,” she says.
So essentially, the best way to achieve the American Dream is to inherit a successful business from your parents.
Capitalism is sort of like a pyramid scheme - The owner(s) at the top reaping all the benefits, while everyone else is plumbing away in hope of the "American Dream".
Re: A labor market conundrum: Skilled and high-paying blue-collar jobs go unfilled
#14These kinds of clickbait headlines actually are a disservice to trade jobs.
Trade jobs are good jobs. However, my experience shows that the trades in the US are actually not that unfilled, actually.
Trade salaries aren't going up--the classic sign of unmet demand.
Re: A labor market conundrum: Skilled and high-paying blue-collar jobs go unfilled
#15> “You can go to college and learn the theology of the Roman Empire,” says Kleis, who just completed a three-day training program at 84 Lumber’s rural Pennsylvania headquarters. “You learn all this ridiculous nonsense, and when you get out, what are you applying that to? I know how to frame a house.” This is so incredibly vapid and such a poor argument to make in favor of what is otherwise a valid case being made by…
Ehh, I don't know. It is sharply worded, but "vapid and poor"?
I have a graduate degree. The CS portions of that have indeed been useful in my career as a programmer. However, the rest of my liberal arts education have been helpful in... well... conversing with other liberal arts grads. I sound fairly well-spoken, I suppose, when writing up documentation that no one usually reads. I can reasonably frame a critical argument, except that I live in a world now where most discussion takes place in social echo chambers anyway.
I am pleased with my life outcome, and do not envy the person being quoted, primarily because I lucked into a hot market at the ideal time. But if I were starting out today, I'm not so sure of how smug I would be in comparing my career prospects, core values, and likelihood of happiness and self-actualization to this person's.
Frankly, I think that "blue collar" work would have to pay twice as much as "white collar" work before society would start to re-align itself accordingly. Because quite frankly, we're going on 3 or 4 generations now of the mindset that white collar work is something to aspire to, while blue collar work is a sign of failure and low social status.
Our entrenched cultural bias lags behind the cold economic reality for most young people coming up today.
Re: A labor market conundrum: Skilled and high-paying blue-collar jobs go unfilled
#16> The company pays manager trainees about $40,000 a year, and that’s just the beginning. Those in charge of top-grossing stores can earn $200,000, and in a few cases more than $1 million, including bonuses.
That's definitely misleading. Lots of professions can earn $1M in a few cases.
Heck, you only earn $200k running a "top-grossing store"? How rarified is that air? Even just limiting it to "managers" is grossly skewed, given they likely represent a fraction of the company's total headcount.
The real question is, what is the median salary for an employee in each title/level in the organization.
Re: A labor market conundrum: Skilled and high-paying blue-collar jobs go unfilled
#17While this is a clickbait article, it's probably worth many high schoolers recognizing that compensation is simply unevenly distributed. There's an increasing realization that going to college does not give you a fast track to FTE status in many industries anymore, and there needs to be a better understanding of the fact that the job market is, well, a market, and salaries will adjust based upon the supply of that ma…
I'm not sure the comparison between CS and law is totally appropriate. Law protects existing wealth, while CS can create new wealth.
That implies that there is not some "fixed" number of CS jobs for which everyone is competing; some CS grads will start companies that will employ 5 or 10 other CS grads.
Re: A labor market conundrum: Skilled and high-paying blue-collar jobs go unfilled
#18> 84 Lumber’s owner, Maggie Hardy Magerko, has something in common with the president. Both inherited businesses from their fathers that have made them fabulously rich. Magerko owns almost all of closely held 84 Lumber, whose stores cater primarily to residential builders and contractors. She is worth $2.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. > Magerko, 51, is not afraid to flaunt her wealth, sendi…
Most of the Forbes 400 are self-made: https://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2014/10/03/there-...
Re: A labor market conundrum: Skilled and high-paying blue-collar jobs go unfilled
#19> “You can go to college and learn the theology of the Roman Empire,” says Kleis, who just completed a three-day training program at 84 Lumber’s rural Pennsylvania headquarters. “You learn all this ridiculous nonsense, and when you get out, what are you applying that to? I know how to frame a house.” This is so incredibly vapid and such a poor argument to make in favor of what is otherwise a valid case being made by…
As someone who has been surrounded by blue collar workers growing up. (Live on Farm and parents ran construction company). I would tend to agree with the quote. I am sophomore in college and it would appear that friends in high school who skipped out on college and are working now are economically and socially farther ahead in life than most of my classmates in college.
I am sophomore in college and it would appear that friends in high school who skipped out on college and are working now are economically and socially farther ahead in life than most of my classmates in college.
You're a sophomore. That makes you, what... 21? It's a bit early to be coming to conclusions about relative success. At that age, they could be managing a gas station and would appear to be "economically further ahead."
The tortoise and the hare spring to mind. Wait ten years and then see how you're all doing.
Re: A labor market conundrum: Skilled and high-paying blue-collar jobs go unfilled
#20> 84 Lumber’s owner, Maggie Hardy Magerko, has something in common with the president. Both inherited businesses from their fathers that have made them fabulously rich. Magerko owns almost all of closely held 84 Lumber, whose stores cater primarily to residential builders and contractors. She is worth $2.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. > Magerko, 51, is not afraid to flaunt her wealth, sendi…
“I want people who work for me to retire in their 50s and own their own boats,” she says.
God that sounds terrible anyway. Do that many people want to retire - literally have nothing greater than themselves that requires their input on a daily basis - and go sit on a boat? What a waste.