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Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last?

economist.com

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Re: Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last?

#481

Post by specialist »

freeloop3 wrote: post #430
specialist wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had two bad experiences hiring contractors. I eventually decided that I could make my own mistakes, cheaper, and actually learn something in the process. First step is to read What Your Contractor Won't Tell You [WYCWTY] https://www.amazon.com/What-Your-Contractor-Cant-Tell/dp/097... I wish I had this book before I started. Practical advice from a person who has remodeled 100s of houses. With checklists of things I…

> Plus, when I finish my remodel, I know I can get most of my money back Just to make sure I understand you correctly, you mean by selling the equipment you bought, right?

Yup.

Re: Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last?

#482

Post by dang »

hiram112 wrote: post #57
danielvf wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably none [edit: in manufacturing]. Most illegal immigrants don’t work manufacturing. The three most common jobs for illegals around here are construction, yardcare, and building cleaning via nested subcontractors. Manufactures have hard assets they could loose. Sketchy subcontractors can just disappear and rename. The growth is from the demand side - people are buying more right now.

Did you even read the article: >In some industries the labour shortage seems acute. Now is not a good time for Americans to remodel their bathrooms: tile and terrazzo contractors earn 11% more per hour than a year ago (and fully one-third more than in 2014). This is exactly the type of jobs that have been flooded by immigrants from Latin America - both illegal and legal - for decades. I speak Spanish and often talk w…

> Did you even read the article

This breaks the HN guidelines outright. We ban accounts that make a habit of that, so please read https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and don't.

Re: Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last?

#483

Post by empath75 »

dionidium wrote: post #17

I work at a medium-sized software company. We've had similar problems with younger employees. Guys literally posting in company-wide Slack channels that they're "feeling a little sleepy this morning, gonna be in later." Can you even imagine somebody saying that to their boss in some black-and-white movie from the 1940s? "Hey, how about instead of coming in later you hit the bricks and never come back?" The culture ha…

Does my job pay me when I figure out a work related problem when I’m in the shower at 6am. Or for reading a random white paper at 2am? I’m not building car parts. My job is thinking and I literally do it every waking hour. I could care less if and when my coworkers show up as long as they’re getting work done.

Re: Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last?

#484

Post by TheAdamAndChe »

Jach wrote: post #423
TheAdamAndChe wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work IT in Springfield, MO. Most lower level positions here have been outsourced or centralized to a tech hub of the country, so to get an "entry level" position requires a four year degree plus a year or two of experience. IT contracting jobs also just pay $10-12/hr here. > Or maybe you're just in a rural area? It's rural compared to the big coastal cities, but is still the third biggest city in my state. IMO, it…

"Relocation isn't an option", well not with that attitude. Your excuse for why doesn't seem very good. In this thread about blue collar jobs, how many blue collar workers are in the US illegally and working their butts off in order to send just about everything they make to their family back across the border? They often have wives, sometimes children, extended family, depending on them. Quite a number of people here…

Telling everyone to just move where the jobs are and live like an immigrant within your own country is why Trump got elected, and will by why similar candidates get elected in the future. Economic growth and development shouldn't be limited to only a handful of cities in the country. It's not good for our workers, society, or culture in general.

Re: Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last?

#485

Post by dang »

dionidium wrote: post #17

I work at a medium-sized software company. We've had similar problems with younger employees. Guys literally posting in company-wide Slack channels that they're "feeling a little sleepy this morning, gonna be in later." Can you even imagine somebody saying that to their boss in some black-and-white movie from the 1940s? "Hey, how about instead of coming in later you hit the bricks and never come back?" The culture ha…

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15748742 and marked it off-topic.

Re: Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last?

#486

Post by dang »

ransom1538 wrote: post #108

>> "Anecdotaly, about 20% of new hires under 30 don’t understand the concept of showing up on time (or at all)" Don't kid yourself. Those new hires are at other jobs making more money. I am booked for a roofer in feb 2018 (fingers crossed - friend of a friend). Blue skills are in extremely high demand. And those guys are working extremely hard making really high incomes (400k+). These guys are highly paid and are not…

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15748742 and marked it off-topic. That's not precise, since it's not exactly off-topic, but the subthread went off into arguments about $400k and left the station.

Re: Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last?

#488

Post by dang »

thanatropism wrote: post #29

This comment (not by me; the poster name isn't even visible anymore): > Illegal border crossings on the southern border are down 78% and blue collar wages are rising. Of course correlation does not equal causation, but when there are fewer available workers to hire/train and demand remains constant, wages tend to rise. was marked dead. Why? Is the illegal crossing number wrong/fake news?

Just so it's clear, moderators don't police threads that way; our concern is that people follow the site guidelines.

That comment was killed by software because the commenter was banned (more or less; it's a bit complicated) for having abused HN in the past.

Re: Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last?

#489

Post by dang »

bluthru wrote: post #450
crankylinuxuser wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well I have something to share precisely about that. Was in 2001 prior to 9/11 in south Indiana. I applied to a factory. And another one. And another one. Nothing. No bites. I then found work at a gas station Subway across the first factory. Our primary business were the factories. 9/11 happened. Within days, the factories shut down. We at subway were like "WTF happened?" Cause we were staffed like normal for rush. T…

>I know I understood the blue collar hatred of illegals. I've been on the receiving end of that. Not that its right, mind you- but understanding others viewpoints is the start of fixing them. Of course it's right to hate people who have no respect for your country's laws and have a meaningful negative impact on your quality of life. You're trying to make it into a racial issue to excuse people who make life worse for…

> Of course it's right to hate people who have no respect for your

This crosses into political ranting which is definitely not what we want here. Thoughtful discussion, please, or nothing. We've had to warn you about this before.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last?

#490

Post by guardiangod »

s73ver_ wrote: post #415
turc1656 wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how someone can just graduate and yet have meaningful experience in the field. Seems like only a very, very select few people can every really say that. Also, it's not clear if you and your father have degrees in the same field. If you do, part of it could easily be a supply/demand issue. I've heard similar stories from lawyers who enter the field and find it very difficult to get anything above 50k for…

If the employer is not paying what the "work ethic" is worth, then why should they get it?

>not paying what the "work ethic" is worth

My mind is blown at reading this sentence.

My 'ethic' cannot be measured (or compensated, or matched) with money, no matter much money is offered; I dearly hope yours' the same.

If I don't think the pay is fair, I will just quit the job. I won't bother with complaining to the employer about money=work ethics.

I will decide what my ethic is, thank you.

Edit: And I am getting down mod for saying my ethics can't be bought. Jesus.

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