231–240 of 251 posts
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Apparently labour is ~35% of the cost of a house [1] though I imagine this varies a lot depending on the house being built, type of construction, location etc. Still, seems safe to assume labour is a large part of the cost. [1] https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/how-much-does-it-cost-...
Yeah, I would think in a city with a runaway housing market (like Vancouver), it's more like 5%
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Sweden also. Berries and mushroom are picked almost exclusively by foreign workers. The government even had to open an exception to COVID restrictions to allow those workers to come in and to their job, as otherwise a whole harvest season could've been lost as there's no way swedes would do the job themselves.
I kind of dislike these industries that depend on imports of cheap labor from poor countries and the governments pandering to them because the locals won't do that kind work, since in that case, the government (read, the taxpayers) is subsidizing unprofitable business that cannot survive in free market conditions by manipulating the labor market in the favor of business owners through the import of cheap labor below…
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Maybe you can try again? I’m still not sure the point you’re making. I mean, no, someone who wants to be an engineer won’t choose the trades. But they wouldn’t do it regardless. That’s not the point.
I agree, someone who wants to be an engineer won't pick the trades. Someone who deeply wants to work the trades won't become an engineer. What I'm saying is that the vast majority want to have a career that makes the most money, with the best benefits, and the best work-life balance within the body of possible options that interest and are available to them. If you're interested in working with electricity you might…
I agree with the 1st. There may be some overlap, but engineers and trades are two very different careers.
What I think is the important point is for those folks who are interested in electrical/electronics, if being an engineer isn’t an option, knowing that trades are a pretty well paying choice is a good thing.
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> But no one would allow me (female) to apprentice. Wow. That's really shitty. IBEW (electrical workers union) seemed to be pretty decent about apprenticing in Southern California. My situation was the reverse: I wanted to get some training in electrical code, but didn't want to apprentice. That completely discombobulated everybody at the union--it was like they were seeing a space alien. They had no ability to accom…
Why would they want to train a rat?
I'm an electrical engineer and several of the testing systems we design run on various levels of industrial three phase. It would be nice to wire them up according to standard so when we hand them off to the union guys actually installing them on the factory floor we're all on the same page.
In addition, it would be nice to know the standards so that I can tell when it's done wrong. For example, I once took a shot of 480VAC to my right arm due to a system having been miswired, and I very much never want to do that again.
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Same thing with housing. There is no housing shortage, there are just people who aren't willing to pay the market rate for housing. Up your price that you are willing to pay and you will have housing. If you can't pay the market rate for housing, do not be surprised when you do not have housing. Basic economics.
Local zoning means that the supply of housing is artificially constrained far below what would be an efficient use of land. Are you suggesting that labor has similar constraints in carpentry, or just being glib?
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I agree, someone who wants to be an engineer won't pick the trades. Someone who deeply wants to work the trades won't become an engineer. What I'm saying is that the vast majority want to have a career that makes the most money, with the best benefits, and the best work-life balance within the body of possible options that interest and are available to them. If you're interested in working with electricity you might…
Your first paragraph seems to be at odds with your last paragraph. I agree with the 1st. There may be some overlap, but engineers and trades are two very different careers. What I think is the important point is for those folks who are interested in electrical/electronics, if being an engineer isn’t an option, knowing that trades are a pretty well paying choice is a good thing.
If you have the opportunity to make a choice between a trade and a engineering career in the same field, and you don't have a personal preference/calling between the two, the engineering career pays better and has better benefits. People will generally pick the thing that pays better all else being equal.
I genuinely don't see what's confusing about that idea. The over promotion of trades is mostly to obscure this fact, that compensation in engineering is better than in trades. The thing here is, if you only have a weak preference for trades, you might pick the trade if you think the compensation is comparable, but might pick engineering if you learn that the compensation is significantly better. I think the goal of these campaigns is to swindle these lightly preference'd types.
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Why would they want to train a rat?
Because I was willing to hand them money? I'm an electrical engineer and several of the testing systems we design run on various levels of industrial three phase. It would be nice to wire them up according to standard so when we hand them off to the union guys actually installing them on the factory floor we're all on the same page. In addition, it would be nice to know the standards so that I can tell when it's done…
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Your first paragraph seems to be at odds with your last paragraph. I agree with the 1st. There may be some overlap, but engineers and trades are two very different careers. What I think is the important point is for those folks who are interested in electrical/electronics, if being an engineer isn’t an option, knowing that trades are a pretty well paying choice is a good thing.
Let me put it this way: If you have the opportunity to make a choice between a trade and a engineering career in the same field, and you don't have a personal preference/calling between the two, the engineering career pays better and has better benefits. People will generally pick the thing that pays better all else being equal. I genuinely don't see what's confusing about that idea. The over promotion of trades is m…
But the point is - that's a pretty rare situation. I'd argue most people who want to do engineering would do it even if it paid less than trades.
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Because I was willing to hand them money? I'm an electrical engineer and several of the testing systems we design run on various levels of industrial three phase. It would be nice to wire them up according to standard so when we hand them off to the union guys actually installing them on the factory floor we're all on the same page. In addition, it would be nice to know the standards so that I can tell when it's done…
If they trained anyone who gave them money it would come at the risk of compromising their very existence.
My sense from talking to them was never that they were angry--everybody seemed to genuinely want to help me even if only to observe the strange creature. It was more that simply asking to join a class without being on an apprentice/journeyman track was so far out from left field that they had absolutely no processes that could be brought to bear.
By contrast, if you want a frosty reception, out of ignorance ask a Levantine Arabic teacher to teach you Egyptian Arabic. He didn't assault me, but I think he contemplated it.
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Let me put it this way: If you have the opportunity to make a choice between a trade and a engineering career in the same field, and you don't have a personal preference/calling between the two, the engineering career pays better and has better benefits. People will generally pick the thing that pays better all else being equal. I genuinely don't see what's confusing about that idea. The over promotion of trades is m…
There is nothing confusing, but I don't think anyone would disagree. But the point is - that's a pretty rare situation. I'd argue most people who want to do engineering would do it even if it paid less than trades.
Most people are strongly motivated by money and benefits over personal preference. Most people, especially in manual labor, don't like their jobs, or merely put up with their jobs for the purpose of making money. Money is the incentive that matters here. Which is why accurately representing to said people what careers can be expected to earn compared to other options in the same field matters.