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

Post by Karrot_Kream » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 12:54 AM UTC

chx wrote: post #434

Avshalom wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> We're probably just nit-picking over definitions but a career No, that's fair. Like "carpenter" and "programmer" are both very broad professions of course. I think there's something about the way various industries get hit by down turns more or less visibly (like when construction goes down it feels like it's everybody, and so every framer, every concrete layer) that creates an (often false to be sure) sense of na…

> the lack of elevator technicians, crane operators, industrial HVAC, PLC programmers, train conductors, air traffic controllers Blame Reagan. Seriously. I am not joking. Blame Reagan. These need to be union jobs. These used to be union jobs. For a more nuanced history read https://wwnorton.com/books/Invisible-Hands/

Post by appletrotter » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 12:55 AM UTC

bluedino wrote: post #446

cwkoss wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

No. They will hire people who are taking or have completed classes at the community college as apprentices occasionally. Companies are afraid to spend money training when they don't think they will have reliable people (based on past experiences)

Post by vl » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 12:55 AM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #118

UncleMeat wrote: post #33

"We need more tradespeople" seems to be an evergreen news article. My brother in law is an electrician. He is paid alright, enough to live on. But there are HUGE downsides. He does not receive health insurance. He does not get paid vacation. In order to match decent white-collar pay, he needs to work overtime. His company pushes hard to get jobs finished fast, causing people to cut safety corners. Many of his coworke…

> 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.

Post by Mezzie » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 12:56 AM UTC

notch656c wrote: post #333

asdff wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So that didn't cost you nothing then. Then what did you do when you got off the plane? Presumably you paid a security deposit for an apartment and didn't just camp on BLM land. For someone with no credit history, a landlord might ask for 4 months rent as a deposit these days.

When I was working shit jobs for minimum wage in Washington I hitchhiked to North Dakota's oil rush and slept in a train yard. It literally cost me nothing. When an able bodied, single, mentally competent and healthy young person says they don't have enough money to move across country it is actually code for "I have no initiative so I will sit and cry like a pathetic child." Meanwhile people are successfully walking…

Post by stonogo » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 12:56 AM UTC

bluedino wrote: post #195

stonogo wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it isn't. You cherry-picked that single report, which was based on 76 turbotax returns. I suspect their data is wrong or corrupted, because making $160k as a journeyman lineman is only achievable with a decade experience and a truckload of overtime. Look around a bit further, or talk to actual linemen or unions, and you'll see the average salary for a lineman is about a hundred thousand dollars a year less than th…

Read some Reddit posts where people ask linemen how much they make. People reply with over $200k.