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The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice with Gen Z

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Re: The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice with Gen Z

#311

Post by asdff »

oceanplexian wrote: post #54
Ancalagon wrote: post #4

Same labor shortage as everywhere that the government likes to pretend doesn't exist. 10 million working-age men can't or won't work. Of the ones willing to work, almost none want to spend their time learning skills for back-breaking, barely-middle class skills jobs which they'll be forced to retire from at 55 because their knees give out. Same answer for the shortage as everywhere that the economists don't want to h…

Fitting pipes together is not "back breaking". We're not talking about framing or roofing, in the contracting world plumbing is a light duty skilled trade that anyone with half a brain can earn a 6-figure income on. If you take care of yourself and wear protective equipment, you won't have a problem with your knees in middle age. There's no "forced retirement", someone working as an independent contractor for 25 year…

I'd be curious what your generation said they'd want to be when surveyed. I'm sure during the height of beatlemania, many people wanted to be a rockstar too.

Re: The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice with Gen Z

#312

Post by baremetal »

WalterBright wrote: post #260
falcolas wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It isn't a bad career But there is a finite end to the career - when your body gives out. That's the biggest problem with the trades, you're selling your health and body. And eventually the body parts will wear out, on a schedule decided as much by genetics as how you live.

I'm not sure how your body parts wear out. Football players ruin their bodies through accumulated injuries, not wearing their bodies out. Do athletes wear their bodies out? I've never heard of that. How does doing plumbing/electricioning wear your body out?

>How does doing plumbing/electricioning wear your body out?

Climbing ladders. The knees go.

Re: The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice with Gen Z

#313

Post by tgv »

Ancalagon wrote: post #4

Same labor shortage as everywhere that the government likes to pretend doesn't exist. 10 million working-age men can't or won't work. Of the ones willing to work, almost none want to spend their time learning skills for back-breaking, barely-middle class skills jobs which they'll be forced to retire from at 55 because their knees give out. Same answer for the shortage as everywhere that the economists don't want to h…

> universal healthcare, universal mandatory PTO

I'm all in favor, but that exists elsewhere, and there's a labor shortage too.

Re: The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice with Gen Z

#314

Post by prottog »

rco8786 wrote: post #227
bluedino wrote: post #139

I was working for an aerospace manufacturer for a while. We were getting 40/50 year old apprentices for the trades, guys coming off the production floor. Electricians, millwrights, CNC machinists... we couldn't find enough of them. I get it. Nobody wants to stand in front of a machine (or 5-6 machines) for 10 hours a day. Nobody wants to be in a 90 degree factory all day. Nobody wants to work 2nd or 3rd shifts. The p…

> You get overtime. I think this comment represents a fundamental disconnect in cultures. The days of people "wanting" overtime are kind of gone. If I saw "overtime pay" on a job description all I am seeing is "work long hours, never see your kids, no time for hobbies, etc". Maybe that translates to me "not wanting to work", but that's the situation.

There's a similar disconnect in expectations of outcomes. The same days when people "wanted" overtime were the days where people expected to get ahead by busting their asses; sure, you could work short hours, play with your kids, have time to develop a hobby, but then you wouldn't become wealthy.

That option is still there today, to work only enough to sustain oneself at a lowered standard. But it seems that there is a part of the millennial/gen-Z culture that expects ass-busting outcomes without the busting of the ass.

Re: The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice with Gen Z

#315

Post by [deleted] »

ogre_battle wrote: post #93
mfer wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't the case for all trades people. It might be a bad area or a bad employer. I've know trades folks who are electricians, plumbers, carpenters, work in road construction, etc. They typically work reasonable hours, have medical, and are paid at or above the median income for where they live. They didn't rack up debt getting into this either. This is not a bad deal for many people.

> it might be a bad area or a bad employer. Outside of big cities, there may not be enough demand, esp. consistent demand, to justify good pay and bennies. My uncle is a welder, has a lot of specializations including some underwater stuff. No shortage of offers... for 6 weeks of work in nowhere-ville, often requiring you to supply your own transport and housing. 3 months in FL, 6 months in NC, 8 weeks in GA. And they…

[deleted]

Re: The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice with Gen Z

#316

Post by jjk166 »

stcroixx wrote: post #229
onion2k wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes Econ101 supply and demand theory isn't nuanced enough. Wages can go up at the same time as the supply increases if the amount of money in the system also increases. How do you think software engineer wages rocketed up over the past 20 years?

Outside of FAANG outliers and SV, have software engineer wages really rocketed up? I've worked outside the FAANG world at companies of various sizes and industries for 25 years and haven't seen it. If anything, I'd say wage growth has been kept artificially low by H1B competition from folks born in low cost of living countries under threat of deportation if they object to the abuse they receive. The average corporate…

I'm in Philadelphia, software jobs around here pay about 2-3 times what other engineering disciplines pay for the same level of experience.

Re: The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice with Gen Z

#317

Post by cwkoss »

bluedino wrote: post #244
cgio wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have a contract to sell parts then your incentive to give higher salary would also be greater, given contracts would have penalties for failure to deliver. The companies are apparently in equilibrium with this situation, so either shortsighted in management or complain because effectively they want to pay less than they currently do.

It's not the pay that's the problem. if it was, people that work at McDonald's or Walmart would be beating our door down to double their salary

Does your company train unskilled workers? Or are previous skills or credentials required?

Re: The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice with Gen Z

#319

Post by sometimeshuman »

dimator wrote: post #100
oceanplexian wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fitting pipes together is not "back breaking". We're not talking about framing or roofing, in the contracting world plumbing is a light duty skilled trade that anyone with half a brain can earn a 6-figure income on. If you take care of yourself and wear protective equipment, you won't have a problem with your knees in middle age. There's no "forced retirement", someone working as an independent contractor for 25 year…

Older generation complains about newer generation's work ethic and goals, news at 11. Seriously, this has been done since forever, and it's such a tired trope. And why the hell shouldn't they want to be influencers? They're responding to the world they've been handed. Why is that different than "I want to be an NBA player", or rock and roll singer before that, or baseball player before that? Gen Z will be just fine,…

This is the first comment I have read where "Gen X" is dragged into the generational culture war. The generic brand of that generation made me think it would fly under the radar and we'd break this tired pattern.

Re: The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice with Gen Z

#320

Post by prottog »

greatpostman wrote: post #298
bluedino wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's relative

To what? Working at McDonald’s?

Relative to what other jobs in the area pay and the cost of living, of course. The competition may in fact be McDonald's paying $12 an hour or Walmart paying $14.
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